


Yhprum's Law

by Sylphid



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hospital, F/F, I'll warn y'all at the beginning of chapters if it happens, I'm too protective of them to let anything that bad happen, Injury, M/M, Possible Blood and Surgery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-06-09 13:44:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6909778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylphid/pseuds/Sylphid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Murphy’s law. An epigram stating that 'anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.' An adage that lends itself to the perceived perversity of what we call our world. </p>
<p>The law is a universal one, and as such we are subject to its absolute governance.</p>
<p>But perhaps there is some way to get around it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, here we go again. I'd like to think of myself as experienced now that I've completed a grand total of ONE fanfic, but unfortunately that isn't the case xD
> 
> I apologize in advance for whatever this is. I took many liberties in describing their situations; certain diagnoses would have occurred long ago for some of the characters ;) Also, I'll try and warn y'all in notes before chapters if there might be something graphic. 
> 
> On that note, I hope you enjoy!

_Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong._

As Hinata sat in the waiting room, that simple phrase repeated itself in his mind.

_Of course I would fracture my tibia right before the Olympics. I mean why not? I lost my father to cancer. My mother couldn’t raise us on her own and our grandparents didn’t have the money to support us. It makes perfect sense, really._

Despite his past, Hinata had consistently made efforts to brighten his life. And all had gone well for the most part. His professional volleyball career had been highly successful, he had become good friends with all of his teammates, and he was financially well off.

But as the age old adage goes, all good things must come to an end.

The white plaster walls seemed to shrink in on the orange-haired boy, keeping him stuck, much like how having a broken leg bone kept him immobile. The fracture wasn’t bad--a hairline fracture is what they called it. But they wanted to run a few tests since they noticed the slightest amounts of blue in Hinata’s _sclera_ , the white part of the eye.

“It’s probably nothing,” the doctor assured him. “We just want to confirm some things.”

But in Hinata’s world, probably nothing meant definitely something, and that was definitely something that he didn’t want to deal with at the moment. And so, he waited for the inevitably bad news to come. When the doctor came in with two new friends and a grim expression on her face, Hinata sighed. “Of course,” he muttered quietly. 

Struggling to look Hinata in the eye, the most assertive looking doctor cleared her throat. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to move you to the University of Tokyo Hospital.” With one hand rubbing the back of her head, she continued. “You have a congenital bone disorder, type I osteogenesis imperfecta. It’s commonly known as brittle bone disease.”

_Brittle bones…?_

The doctor next to her let out a huff. “At its simplest, it means that your bones don’t form enough collagen, which will cause them to fracture easily.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I can’t believe this hasn’t been caught until now. Most decent pediatricians would’ve noticed the blue in your sclera; that’s usually a pretty sure sign.”

“My sister and I couldn’t afford to see a pediatrician when we were kids,” Hinata admitted embarrassingly. The three doctors offered their best pitying glances. “Is there… anything that can be done…?”

“If you’re asking if it can be cured, I’m afraid the answer is no.” Hinata cringed. “However, there are treatment options: pharmacologic therapy, cellular therapy, and possibly surgery if the need is great enough.”

The head doctor wrote something on her clipboard before detaching a sheet of paper and handing it to Hinata. “We’re recommending the best doctor that UT Hospital’s seen in decades. He’s been called a genius by loads of his seniors, although his coworkers aren’t huge fans of him.” She handed Hinata his crutches before patting him on the back. “I’m truly sorry this happened. My daughter is a huge fan.”

_Was_ , Hinata thought solemnly. _Who knows if I’ll ever be able to play again_.

“I know I’m probably way out of line for asking this at a time like this--” The female doctor paused before finishing. Slowly, a smile appeared on her face as she extended a hand that held paper and a pen. “--But could I get an autograph?”

Hinata looked up, shocked at the proposition. Equally slowly, he returned the smile. “Definitely! I’m always happy to gratify a fan!”

_Whatever hellish sickness this is, I won’t let it tear me away from those that I love--my friends, my family, my fans_. 

\---

_Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong_.

That certainly seemed to be the case today for Sawamura Daichi, who had slept through three alarms, missed the train, and spilled coffee all over his white coat, effectively rendering it a brown coat.

But unfortunately, his woes and troubles were just beginning.

“Sawamura!” barked his head of department, Ukai Keishin. Daichi turned his head to meet the blonde man’s gaze. “I need you to see a patient in 512.”

_512? That’s on the psychiatric floor…_

“Sir, we both work--”

“In orthopedics, I know.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “For various reasons, they’re a bit understaffed right now, and you would be doing us a great favor by seeing this patient. You have a minor in Psychology, right?”

Daichi nodded. “Then this shouldn’t be a problem. Go see Shimizu-san on the fifth floor. She’ll give you the patient’s information. I’m about to go into the OR, so if you need anything, leave it on my desk.” With that, the orthopedic surgeon walked off.

_Psychiatry, huh? I wonder what kind of patient I’ll get._

When Daichi arrived on the fifth floor, he was shocked by how different the air felt. The area was certainly much quieter than any other floor, and overall, it just felt _empty_.

The silence didn’t last, however. As Daichi walked towards the main desk of the floor, he paid little attention to anything other than the tiles on the floor in front of him. So it wasn’t a surprise when he crashed into someone, causing the person and his tray of food to fall to the floor. 

“Oh my god, are you alright?” 

The man now on the ground let out a slight giggle. His silvery hair fell haphazardly on his head, yet still retained a feathery quality. A pair large hazel eyes crinkled at the sides, a sign of years of joy and laughter, and below his left eye was an enrapturing beauty mark. The man’s gentle smile seemed to tie all the facial features together, and in that moment Daichi knew he was screwed.

_God he’s hot--_

_Professionalism, Daichi!_

From his place on the ground, the silver-haired man waved his hand. “I’m fine, no worries!” Sighing with relief, Daichi extended a hand to help him up. The other man took it gladly. “Such a firm grip!” he teased.

Blushing, Daichi bent down to clean up the food that fell off the tray, of which there wasn’t much. “I’m really sorry... I’m not normally on this floor, and I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking.”

“I told you, I’m alright!” After Daichi threw away the dirtied food, the man held out his hand. “Sugawara Koushi. Call me Suga!”

Daichi hesitated before shaking it. “Sawamura Daichi.” 

Suga hummed contentedly before remarking, “Even your name sounds strong…” 

A red tinge returned to Daichi’s cheeks, and he had to turn away to avoid being ridiculed by this _highly attractive_ man. “A-Anyways, I should get going. I really am sorry!”

“How many times do I have to tell you? I’m fine!” Suga assured Daichi. The ash blond personage flashed him a bright smile before turning around and heading off to his room.

Daichi couldn’t help that his eyes drifted downward to the man’s slender behind. Shaking his head, he continued his walk toward the main desk.

When he finally reached his destination, he was taken aback by the lack of doctors. The only people that sat inside the large circular area were a timid looking woman with blond hair and a side ponytail as well as a more assertive looking doctor with dark hair, glasses, and a distinctive mole on the left side of her chin.

Clearing his throat, Daichi began, “Excuse me, my name is Sawamura Daichi, I’m from orthopedics. I’m here to see Shimizu-san concerning the patient in 512?”

“That would be me,” the dark-haired woman replied, not looking up from the paperwork sprawled out in front of her. Daichi gulped, slightly intimidated by her focus. Shimizu slid a manila folder containing his patient’s information over to Daichi. Looking up, she smiled. “But please, call me Kiyoko.”

Daichi figured he must’ve looked entirely abashed, because both Kiyoko and the blond girl next to her began to laugh. “We’re not completely antisocial here on the psychiatric floor, Sawamura-kun.”

The woman next to her giggled. “I’m Yachi Hitoka. We may be understaffed, but we still make do!”

Daichi smiled at the pair, who he noticed were holding hands under the desk. He decided not to bring it up, as he didn’t mind himself. For that matter, he wasn’t even sure of his own sexuality. In high school, he always assumed he was straight. He dated his good friend Michimiya Yui for a long time.

Yet it was at moments like when he bumped into Suga that he questioned it. In either case, he didn’t mind. Love was love, and if he loved someone then that was what mattered.

Picking up the folder, he opened it to find out more about his patient. Immediately, one thing popped out to him.

_Sugawara Koushi, anorexia nervosa._

Daichi’s heart stopped. He had just knocked an anorexic’s meal onto the floor.

\---

_Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong_.

Nishinoya had learned to accept his blood disease early on in his lifetime. It was, for reasons unknown to him, something that had just always been, something he had learned to deal with.

As a child, his physician consistently noted pallor and malaise as recurring symptoms during checkups. Simply put, this meant that he was pale and in pain.

When Nishinoya’s biopsy came back showing that most of his blood-producing bone marrow cells had been replaced with fat, the doctors were certain that something was wrong. He always found it odd that people were pitying him when they discovered what he had been diagnosed with. Personally, he found it relieving that they could slap a name on the thing that had been plaguing him since birth.

What he had was known as aplastic anemia, a disease in which the bone marrow is unable to produce enough of each type of blood cell: red, white, and platelets.

So, for a few months now, he’d been stuck on the hematology floor at UT Hospital. His condition had unfortunately worsened and he now required frequent blood transfusions in order to cope with the disease. He had recently been put on a waiting list for a bone marrow transplant, but he was constantly reminded that it was unlikely he’d find a match.

But Nishinoya was alright with that, especially since he got to see _that nurse_ most every time he got a transfusion.

He looked forward to seeing his terribly cute hair bun, the wideness in his deep brown eyes when he thinks he’s done something wrong, the toned muscles throughout his whole body, the strong yet delicate touch of his hands when he’s preparing to draw his blood. 

Yes, Nishinoya _certainly_ was alright with not having a match.

A soft knock at the door let him know that his favorite time of the day had arrived--and favorite person for that matter. 

“Come in!” Nishinoya chimed gleefully.

As the door creaked open, Nishinoya heard the familiar voice of his nurse, Asahi. “You know, most people aren’t as excited as you are when it’s time to have a transfusion,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

_Yeah, but those people are too focused on the transfusion and not on the gorgeous nurse in front of them_. 

_Wait, but that’s alright. They aren’t allowed to focus on Asahi, anyway_. 

“Yeah, well, I’m holding out hope for a donor!” Nishinoya mused in reply. It was a half-truth; to finally get the bone marrow he needed, to not have to deal with the tiredness and the pain anymore would be a boon that he had waited 24 years for. But getting the transplant would also mean not being able to see Asahi anymore.

Asahi chuckled while setting up Nishinoya’s IV. “A lot of people would have lost hope by now. I’m glad you’re still in such high spirits.”

With his free arm--that is, the one that wasn’t being strangled by miles of tubing--he slapped Asahi on the back. Nishinoya let out a hearty laugh at the larger man’s flinch, remarking “Come on, who’d be around to torment you all the time if I were gone?”

Asahi blushed at that comment before shaking his head and focusing on the task at hand. With a beep from the infusion device, the man stepped backward, allowing the machine to do its work. 

Nishinoya sighed before settling into his bed. “Can you stay for a bit?” he inquired in an unusually gentle manner.

The bearded man hesitated for a moment before making his decision. “I suppose I can wait a few minutes.” His face turned stern before finishing, remembering the last time Nishinoya had kept him there longer than he should’ve been. “But only a few!”

“As-a-hiii, when have I ever kept you here too long?” Nishinoya said in a coquettish voice. Asahi gulped, afraid to answer with one of the numerous examples of times that such a thing happened. Sighing, he took a seat near Nishinoya’s cot and sank into it.

Careful not to move the arm with the IV in it, Nishinoya turned his body so that he could face the gentle giant. He smiled at the sight before him, which caused the nurse to blush once again.

Yeah, having aplastic anemia sucked. But with Asahi as his nurse, Nishinoya didn’t think it was that bad.

\---

_Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong_.

The first time you work triage, you quickly learn that there are many more people than a hospital can hold, and that there are many people that aren’t quite as unhealthy as they might themselves believe.

As a senior resident, Ennoshita was well acquainted with working triage for the ER. He could always expect to see minor injuries, as well as major; external injuries, as well as internal. What he didn’t expect to see on this day, however, was an influx of over 100 people that had been injured in a train crash.

“Ennoshita! I need you to get them grouped, now!” yelled the emergency room head, Takeda Ittetsu. 

As a doctor, Takeda-sensei was unrivalled. Though he was young, he had years of experience, and he finished medical school at the top of his class. Ennoshita felt honored, even indebted, to be taken under his wing. 

But he knew well that Takeda was quick to drop residents if they weren’t able to keep up.

And so, Ennoshita began to survey the crowd, separating those with minor cuts and bruises from those with major lacerations and contusions. He paid specific attention to those in which it appeared blood vessels had ruptured; they would be cared for sooner rather than later.

As he traversed the packed area, all had seemed to be going quite well. That is, until he came across a particularly injured man with a shaved head and a deep grimace set on his face.

_At first glance, there seems to be major artery damage in his right forearm, possible contusions on the other arm as well. There’s also a rather large blood stain around his lower left stomach… That should probably be looked at more closely._

Clearing his throat, Ennoshita began standard procedure. “Hello sir, my name is Ennoshita Chikara, I’m an ER doctor here at UT Hospital. May I ask you your name?”

“Tanaka Ryuunosuke,” he grumbled, rubbing his palms on his pants. “Look, I’m just a little bit cut. Can I just get some Neosporin and some band-aids and get out of here?”

Ennoshita sighed. “Sir, I’d like to take a look at your stomach,” he started, pointing to the crimson patch on his shirt, “just to make sure it’s nothing too serious.”

The man named Tanaka obliged begrudgingly, moving forward slightly in his seat to allow Ennoshita to lift up his shirt.

From his own experience, Ennoshita assumed that what he’d find under the shirt would just be a slight laceration, one that could be fixed with simple stitching. What he didn’t expect to find was a silvery piece of metal jutting from the man’s torso, with congealed blood coating the sides of it.

He involuntarily let out a soft gasp before reaching a hand to his mouth to block the sound. “That bad, huh?” Tanaka muttered quietly. Afraid to answer, Ennoshita quickly called over his senior, Takeda, to take a look at the patient.

It barely took Takeda more than second before he proclaimed, “He needs to be prepped for surgery immediately. Get ready to take him to the OR.” Turning around, he shouted into the crowd, “I need an anesthesiologist as soon as possible!”

Takeda took Ennoshita to the side before speaking to him quietly. “I’m going to need you in that OR today. There are too many other patients today and I can’t afford to leave.” Ennoshita swallowed hard, surprised by the sudden task and anxious to do the job right.

Finally, he nodded to his senior.

“Thank you, Ennoshita.”

\---

Murphy’s law. An epigram stating that _anything that can go wrong, will go wrong_. An adage that lends itself to the perceived perversity of what we call our world. 

Whether it’s taken as a cautionary aphorism (consider all the outcomes) or as unavoidable fate (everything is created to fail) is irrelevant.

The law is a universal one, and as such we are subject to its absolute governance.

But perhaps, there is some way to get around it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoho, I should probably just stop now.
> 
> *sigh*
> 
> Hope you enjoyed? If you did, leave a kudos or a comment! On a side note, I'll be out of town for probably the next 10 days or so, and I won't be getting much done in terms of writing, so I'm really sorry :(
> 
> Thanks to akishime for beta'ing this!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daichi is really stupid, Kageyama blushes, Ennoshita hides in bathrooms, and Asahi knits.

“Look, I thought I was stupid for not paying attention to where I was walking, but to knock the food of someone who doesn’t eat enough onto the ground--”

“Sawamura-san, it’s okay!” 

Daichi shook his head. _No, it’s not. As much as I want you to accept my apology, I can’t have you do that and still be professionally okay with not letting you eat._

“How about I walk with you to the café and buy you something nice to eat to make up for it? Would that be alright with you?”

Suga smiled at the prospect of going somewhere with his hot doctor. “Definitely! But only if you let me call you Daichi as well.” Suga winked at Daichi, who was quickly flushed with red.

“I s-suppose that’s fair…” Daichi stammered. 

With psychiatry, treatment is always easier if you’re able to befriend the patient. 

_I just have to make sure I don’t let it go further than that,_ Daichi thinks to himself.

Walking beside the silver-haired man, however, Daichi realized that it would be easier said than done.

The café had been recently renovated, along with the rest of the first floor, granting the hospital a more snug and cozy ambience. In addition to the upgraded tables, three new food stations had been added, widening the range of options substantially.

Daichi’s current predicament was trying to find a food item that Suga could eat without any fuss. Unfortunately, he had just met the guy nearly ten minutes ago. To add to that, he had no idea whether he liked sour food or sweet food, hot food or cold food, spicy food or mild food. 

Suga seemed unconcerned with the situation, however, trotting cheerfully towards the food court. With each step, his hair bounced a little around his head, the strands seeming to enjoy the trip just as much as the man was. 

When they arrived, Suga quickly led Daichi to a tofu station. “Just so you know, my favorite is the super spicy mapo tofu!” _I guess he likes spicy food then._ Daichi smiled and nodded, getting in line to order the food.

Daichi could quickly see why the man was so infatuated with the dish; the initial reaction he had was to the scent it gave off. The sharp, yet tangy aroma of the spicy meat was quite inviting.

Suga managed to make it about a quarter of the way through his dish before he pushed it towards Daichi. “Could you finish it for me?”

_Oh no. Now I have to be the bad doctor._

“Suga, it’s your food--”

“Pleeeeeeease?” Suga begged, tugging on Daichi’s arm just the tiniest bit.

_How bad would I be if I took away an anorexic’s food twice in one day?_

_… Pretty bad._

“Suga, I’m sorry, but I’m gonna have to insist that you finish your food.”

Suga pouted. “Fine. But can I at least finish it in my room?”

Daichi visibly relaxed his shoulders and gave a breath of relief. “Of course.” The two men then proceeded to stand up and push in their chairs. As Daichi led Suga back towards the elevator, he heard the ominous sound of silverware sliding on plastic. 

_Shit._

By the time he turned around, the bowl of mapo tofu was already halfway between the tray and the ground, and there was no chance of saving it.

“Suga!”

“Oh dear, that won’t do, will it…” Suga mused, frowning at the mess he had likely intentionally made.

Daichi shook his head. “You can’t do that, Suga. You need a certain amount of sustenance in order to maintain a healthy body weight.”

This time, Suga’s frown looked genuine, possibly out of concern for Daichi. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I can eat more at dinner if you’d like--”

“No, you can’t!” Daichi interrupted powerfully. Suga’s facial expression turned to one of shock due to Daichi’s sudden outburst. Realizing his mistake, Daichi quickly sought to amend it. “I’m sorry for raising my voice like that, Suga… Your body simply won’t accept too much food at one time at this stage of the disorder…”

Suga waved it off, although there was still pain in his eyes. “I understand why you did it.” Suga mumbled, before looking down at the ground.

Without warning, Daichi took Suga by the shoulders. “Listen to me, Suga. You have a mental condition. That’s not your fault. Don’t ever think that it’s your fault.” Slowly, Suga turned his head to look Daichi in the eyes. “Can you do that for me, please?” 

Suga willed himself to nod his head, although Daichi suspected that the man still blamed himself in some way.

That was just something he’d have to fix.

\---

Kageyama closed his locker forcefully. 

_Another day at a hospital where no one likes me._

He wasn’t surprised that he was disliked by most of his coworkers, especially since he rose through the ranks so quickly. (There was also the matter of the permanent scowl that was set on his face, but Kageyama wasn’t ever in front of a mirror long enough to see it.)

_Let them hate me. I’m here to save lives, not socialize._

Upon arriving on the orthopedic floor, he headed to the main desk to receive his patient information from Ukai. 

“Kageyama, your new patient is in 307, osteogenesis imperfecta, type I.” Ukai handed the raven-haired doctor a folder. “Late diagnosis. And from what I hear, the kid’s a national volleyball player.”

That last piece of information caused Kageyama’s ears to raise ever so slightly. He had played as the setter for his own high school, but he tended not to reminisce about it, since he wasn’t very well liked in that context either.

Kageyama grunted his thanks before heading off to the room to meet his new patient. Despite not altering his sullen facial expression, Kageyama was actually quite excited to meet a volleyball player on his own country’s Olympic team.

_Don’t bring it up Tobio, he’s probably upset about his diagnosis at the moment._

After opening the door, he was unable to conceal the surprise on his face when he noticed the small amount space the man took up on the cot.

_He can’t be taller than a meter and a half… This kid plays volleyball for Japan?!_

“You play volleyball for Japan?!” he blurted.

The person in the bed frowned. “I get that look a lot, you know. Believe it or not, I’m 163 cm, and I haven’t grown a bit since my first year in high school!” He scrunched up his nose before continuing. “And, I lead Japan’s olympic volleyball team in kills! Hinata Shouyou, at your service!”

Kageyama looked from the chart to the man in bed multiple times before scrunching up his own nose. “My records say you’re only 162.8 cm.”

Hinata quickly sat up in his cot, his impetuous orange hair flinging about as he did so. “Well I’ve grown since the last time I saw a doctor!”

“It says here you last saw a doctor one year ago for a physical required by the national team.” Kageyama smirked. “Didn’t you just say you haven’t grown since high school?”

“I--” Hinata paused, trying to think up an excuse that Kageyama knew would be ill-conceived. It came as a surprise when he retorted with “Shut up, idiot! I don’t even know your name!”

Kageyama’s face soon filled itself with rage. “Who’re you calling an idiot, dumbass! I’m the one who’s actually trying to make you better.” Kageyama paused to calm himself before finishing. _Remember where you are, Tobio. This is a hospital, not some random Tokyo street._ “My name is Kageyama Tobio. You were recently diagnosed with brittle bone disease, yes?”

Hinata returned to a slumped position in the bed, perhaps saddened by the mention of his newly discovered disorder. “Y-Yes, though I’m still not really sure what that means.”

The doctor sighed, not really in the mood to lecture someone on their illness. “I’m not here to tell you what it is; my job is to get you mobile again.”

Hinata’s eyes brightened and his mouth hung wide open. “You mean I’ll be able to play volleyball again?!”

“I don’t want to make any promises, as nothing in the medical field is ever certain, but that is the end goal, yes.”

The short man almost leapt out of bed to hug Kageyama, before realizing that one of his legs wasn’t quite ready to support his own weight. He frowned before extending a hand to Kageyama. When Hinata noticed the taller man’s confusion he explained.

“I want to shake your hand?” 

_Oh._

“That’s probably not too sanitary…” Kageyama muttered.

“Shut up, Kageyama! This is probably the only way I can say thanks right now.”

That was unusual. _One of my patients saying thank you…? They’re normally too afraid to even talk to me._

Hesitantly, Kageyama reached his hand toward Hinata, who shook it with a wide smile on his face. Kageyama was surprised to feel his face heating up at the contact.

_Am I… blushing…?_

He quickly turned away to make sure Hinata didn’t see the red on his face, although he was pretty sure he was already caught based on the giggling he heard beside him.

“Shut up, dumbass! I wasn’t blushing!”

“I didn’t say you were, idiot!”

_Crap._

“You were thinking it though!”

“Because you were blushing!”

With a humph, Kageyama headed towards the door. “I have another patient to tend to. I’ll be back later to discuss treatment options with you.”

From his sitting position, Hinata teased, “Byeeee Kageyama-san! I’ll miss you!” He blew Kageyama a kiss to top it all off.

Red splattered across his face before he had a chance to slam the door behind him.

Ukai’s head turned toward the loud noise from his spot at the main desk. “What’s got your panties in a twist, huh Kageyama?”

“N-Nothing!”

Not a single patient had ever made Kageyama so flustered and so head over heels.

\---

Ennoshita exited the OR with a sigh. The surgery had been long and difficult.

What started as a simple gastrointestinal perforation, a puncture in his stomach, led to the release of stomach acid into his abdominal cavity lining, a problematic case of peritonitis. Even after sealing the hole in Tanaka’s stomach, they still had to drain the extremely acidic stomach fluid from his body.

But the man pulled through, which Ennoshita found to be quite admirable. Not many are able to have a piece of metal lodged in one of their organs and still ask to leave the hospital with just a few bandages.

_Admirable, but incredibly foolhardy,_ he thought.

“Ennoshita-kun!” From down the hallway, Ennoshita spotted the owner of the voice, Takeda. “How did the surgery go?”

“It was successful, though we were plagued with peritonitis throughout most of it.”

“And to think he was just sitting there as if he weren’t in any pain…” Takeda chuckled to himself. “What a character.”

_Yeah, he did seem rather interesting, I suppose…_

_Although I won’t admit that anytime soon._

“Just so you know, I’m gonna have you be his attending physician when he wakes up,” Takeda remarked.

That’s odd. Ennoshita was never taken off his ER duties, so why was Takeda doing this? “But sir, who will take my place in the emergency room?”

Takeda smiled at him. “Oh, I’m sure I’ll be able to find _someone_ in this hospital that knows how to do first aid. I just want you to be able to move on to something else, you know?”

_That makes sense, I guess._

“And I saw the way you looked at that boy.” Ennoshita froze. “Now I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but I’d just like to point out that I looked the same way when I first saw Ukai.” Takeda winked at Ennoshita, who decided that he should just quit his job, right then and there.

“Sir, there’s nothing like that going on--”

“Ah, I’ve gotta go. Patients to see, paperwork to get done. Best of luck, Ennoshita-kun!”

With that, the senior physician walked off, humming as he distanced himself from Ennoshita. The coral tinge remained on Ennoshita’s face for far longer than he thought it should have.

_Does that mean he’s right…? No, of course not. He was just interesting because he didn’t show any signs of major pain._

_That’s definitely it._

Ennoshita nodded contentedly to himself before hurrying to the nearest restroom to shut himself in a stall and never show his face to Takeda again.

\---

Nishinoya was quick to decide that Wednesday was his favorite day of the week. Of course, it was only his favorite day because he knew that Asahi was assigned to him for both the morning and the evening shifts on that day. When the soft spoken man showed up early in the morning, Nishinoya was already wide awake and eager to start a conversation.

“So Asahi, what’s a guy like you do when he’s not working at the hospital?”

The large man fiddled with a machine as he formed his reply. “When I’m not working? That’s not a very common occurrence, Noya.”

“Really?!” For some reason, Nishinoya seemed highly interested in the fact that Asahi was always at the hospital. Then again, Nishinoya was highly interested in anything that Asahi did. “Okay, but when it _does_ happen, what do you do?”

Asahi pondered the question for a moment, “I guess I knit, sometimes?”

The man in bed quickly burst into laughter at the thought of the muscular nurse knitting in his free time. “Asahi-san, are you serious?!”

The nurse blushed at Nishinoya’s reaction. “I mean, I don’t do it that often…”

“Why haven’t you made anything for me yet?”

“Because I didn’t want you to know that I knit.”

“But why?”

“Because I knew you’d react like this.” Nishinoya pouted at the larger man, giving him his best fake upset look. But Asahi had tended for Nishinoya long enough to know when he was feigning sorrow. “Don’t give me that look--”

“Asahi-san, make me a scarf!” Asahi was shocked and confused at the sudden request.

“A scarf…?”

“One that I can wear everywhere I go!”

“Noya, it’s the middle of the summer--”

“Pleeeeease!”

Asahi sighed. It was too early for Nishinoya’s antics. His only choice was to accept his odd request to get him to settle down. “I guess I can try to make one some time soon…”

Nishinoya quickly bounced up and down in his bed, paying no mind to the tubing he was about to disconnect from both the machine and his body. “Noya, calm down! You’ll detach the cannula!”

By some miracle, the fireball stopped his buffoonery, allowing himself to continue with the transfusion process. Asahi let his arms fall to his side in relief.

“Thanks for looking out for me, Asahi,” Nishinoya hummed as he closed his eyes with a smile on his face. “I can always count on you.”

Asahi couldn’t help the fact that his face lightened at the innocent sight before him. He cautiously covered Nishinoya with a blanket since the excitable boy had carelessly kicked his sheets off earlier.

With Nishinoya now snug in bed, Asahi turned to leave the room and make himself useful elsewhere, although something seemed off to him.

His hand still on the door handle, Asahi paused for a few seconds before it hit him.

_Oh my god._

Nishinoya’s heart rate monitor emitted a continuous, unwavering pitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I cruel? Gurh I feel bad, especially since I won't be able to type for about five days. Although I will be bringing my handy-dandy old-fashioned notebook to do some actual writing. We'll see what I'm able to get done. I will try my best though!
> 
> My last fic was 99.9% fluff, so I'm not really sure what I'm doing here. Eh, knowing me, this'll turn into 95% fluff anyway. It just isn't quite there yet.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! If you did, leave a comment or a kudos! Either one is much appreciated!
> 
> (*looks over end notes  
> jeez did I really use three exclamation marks in a row?)
> 
> And thank you again for beta'ing whatever this is, akishime! 
> 
> Okay one more thing I SWEAR; I'm on some really sketchy wifi right now so if this doesn't post right, I'm really sorry :(


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Whatever. He’s an idiot anyway.'
> 
> Hinata allowed the slightest smile to form on his face.
> 
> 'But he is kinda cute…'
> 
> Suddenly, the immobile Hinata slapped himself in the face. 'Don’t be stupid! Idiots aren’t cute!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, hugeeeely sorry for being so late on the update. I ended up being gone from the 21st to the 29th, on my trip I realized that I'm not hugely fond of planes xD
> 
> Also, this chapter is basically just health class and I'm reaaaally sorry for that too!
> 
> And it's not beta'd because I figured I had to post this as soon as possible. Sorry for that too!
> 
> Guh. Sorry. Anyways, hope you enjoy this super belated chapter!

It’s a curious thing, the heart. 

It pumps blood throughout the entirety of the human body, providing nutrients and oxygen while also removing metabolism-driven waste.

If one were to view the human body as an ecosystem, surely the heart would be a keystone species. Without it, every other part of the body would fail; the brain due to loss of gray matter, the lungs due to pulmonary edema, even parts of the skin which might pit due to the buildup of interstitial fluid. 

And so when Nishinoya’s heart stopped beating, it began the collapse of an ecosystem.

Panicking, Asahi quickly picked up the room phone and contacted the main office of the floor. “I need a doctor and a hematologist in room 212 immediately!” He slammed the phone back down and began to look for the drugs that the doctor would likely use to try and revive the patient.

_Where’s the Amiodarone?!_

Asahi grunted as he scrambled through a cabinet searching for the drug. Finally finding it, he turned and placed both the Epinephrine and the Amiodarone on a side table right by Nishinoya. He began to charge up the AED, although UT regulations stated that as a nurse, he was not allowed to pursue defibrillation procedures by himself.

When the two other workers finally arrived, Asahi couldn’t even bring himself to let out a small breath of relief. Instead he shouted, “The AED is fully charged and ready!” 

The doctor nodded while placing the electrodes on Nishinoya’s body. Content with his work, he yelled “Clear!” before shocking the person in bed, his body arching upward from the electricity. The goal was to reestablish his normal sinus rhythm, allowing his heart to readminister its own electrical impulse which would allow it to pump.

After two minutes passed and no change had occurred, the doctor demanded 0.5 mg of Epinephrine, which was to be delivered intravenously. Asahi watched as the clear liquid wound itself through the twists of the tubing and into Nishinoya’s body.

_Please help us not be too late!_

He turned to the hematologist who stood on the other side of the cot. “Why did this happen?!” Asahi asked desperately. 

Pushing up his browline glasses, the hematologist wrinkled his nose and frowned. “If I had to guess, his body is rejecting the blood that was transfused--likely from a few days ago, since a reaction to a transfusion wouldn’t occur immediately.”

“But this hasn’t happened before! The blood was definitely his blood type!”

“If your body can’t make its own blood,” the old hematologist started, “eventually it will just give up.”

_Not you, Noya! The Noya I know would never give up!_

“You can do this,” Asahi whispered under his breath.

Two more minutes passed, and the doctor administered a 5 mg dose of Amiodarone, hoping that the two drugs could build upon one another to get his heart moving.

After a minute and half that felt like a year and a half, the unwavering pitch finally broke, settling into a slow, staccato beat. The room collectively sighed, Asahi running his hand through his hair.

The doctor patted Asahi on the back. “Thank you for contacting us as promptly as you did. Were it not for you, this young man would likely be dead.” Asahi gulped at the thought. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve more patients to tend to.” With that, the white-coated man left the room to deal with other enterprises.

Meanwhile, the hematologist continued to frown at Nishinoya. “He doesn’t have long.”

Asahi took a step back. “E-Excuse me?!”

“He doesn’t have long left to live. Not unless he can produce his own blood, and the only way he can do that is through a bone marrow transplant.”

“But he’s been on the list for years…” Asahi muttered, staring at the cold, tile floor. “Not a single match has been found, not even from his family.”

The hematologist shrugged. “There’s bound to be someone in this world that can donate to him. The first test is just a cheek swab anyway, so I’m not sure why more people don’t do it.” He shook his head. “But who am I to judge, eh?”

He walked towards the door. “You take it easy, alright? Sometimes, people are just so tired of living in pain that death might suffice as something better.” With that ominous comment, he shut the door behind him.

_A cheek swab?_

Asahi stared thoughtfully at the sleeping patient. Since his heart had started beating again, the man had somehow managed to curl himself inward, swaddling himself with blankets. 

_I suppose it couldn’t hurt._

\---

It’s a curious thing, the abdomen.

It houses myriad organs that are vital to our survival; liver, stomach, spleen, pancreas, gall bladder, intestines, and kidneys, to name a few. In addition, a protective membrane called the peritoneum allows for gastrointestinal motion and gives support to abdominal organs.

So it’s not hard to see that, should some sort of infection arise within the peritoneum, it would have far-reaching implications on multiple organs.

Thus, Ennoshita was deeply concerned when Tanaka, who didn’t complain about having been impaled by a piece of metal, began to complain about a stomachache.

_I thought we contained the peritonitis during the surgery, but if a peritoneal abscess formed from his peptic ulcers…_

“Look doc, I’m sure it’s nothing. Forget I said anything.”

Ennoshita rolled his eyes. “Is this the same nothing that caused you not tell me about the piece of metal protruding from your stomach earlier?”

Tanaka grumbled and straightened himself back into his supine position. “Fine, make fun of me. Sorry for not wanting to have to pay for all this medical crap.”

“Money should never be an issue. We will treat any patient that walks in here ill or hurt. Haven’t you realized that all we’ve collected from you is your name?”

Considering the surprise on Tanaka’s face, Ennoshita assumed that he hadn’t. Sighing, he began to write notes on his clipboard. “I’m going to schedule CAT scan to look for any intra-abdominal abscesses.” He looked up for a moment to look at the prone body of Tanaka. “I also want you to sit up until the scan occurs.”

Tanaka slowly adjusted his body so that his back rested against the wall. “Why?” he grumbled.

“By lying down, you allow peritoneal fluid to collect in various abdominal locations, and if you have an abscess from your stomach wound, then it would pool in that spot.”

A confused look on Tanaka’s face let Ennoshita know that his words sailed right over the man’s head. With exaggerated hand gestures, he repeated, “Bad liquid go in pit in stomach.”

The bedridden Tanaka scowled at his childish treatment. “No need to act like it’s so obvious.”

Ennoshita let his arms and clipboard rest at his side as he looked back at Tanaka. _He has quite the lean build, although his arms are well toned. And his eyes are sharp, but they’re not too bad if you look at them long enough. Plus, it’s kinda cute when he’s flustered._

_Whoa, what?_

_Stop this, Chikara. It’s unprofessional._

He shook his head to get out his trance. “Sorry if I offended you, sir.”

“And don’t call me ‘sir’ like I’m something royal. It’s Tanaka.”

“I’ll be sure to keep it in mind, _Tanaka_ ,” Ennoshita replied, emphasizing each syllable in the man’s name.

“Sheesh, are all doctors this sassy?”

_No, just the ones that have crushes on their patients,_ Ennoshita thinks.

Ennoshita waved it off and answered with a half truth. “Only the ones that know their patients are tough enough to deal with it,” Ennoshita says, before spontaneously deciding to wink at Tanaka.

_Oh god._

_No._

_No no no._

_I didn’t just wink at him._

_Oh god I just winked at him._

Ennnoshita looked away, covering one side of his face with the clipboard and the other with his free hand. When he looked back, however, he was shocked to see an equally embarrassed Tanaka who was blushing uncontrollably within his bed. 

“I-I’ll be back in a couple hours to take you to the tomography scan. Try not to h-have any organs burst before I get back.” Ennoshita stammered before quickly exiting his patient’s room. 

As he shut the door behind him, he jumped at the sound of a voice beside him. “So I hear from Takeda you have a crush on the boy in there.”

“T-Tsukishima!” Ennoshita stuttered. The lanky blonde, who had been his classmate in university, quickly rose through the hospital’s rank and file lower part of the hospital to a leading physician position. “He’s not a _boy_ …”

“I could’ve sworn there wasn’t a uterus in there when we were in the OR… Does he identify as something else then?” He quickly put a hand to his mouth. “Oh, my mistake, I shouldn’t assign him a pronoun if I don’t know what he considers himself as.”

_Cheeky bastard._

“He definitely identifies himself as a male _man_!” Ennoshita retorted. He proceeded to rub the back of his neck. “I don’t think he’s attracted to other males though, so even if I _did_ admit to having a slight attraction to him, which I _don’t_ , it would be unrequited.”

Something changed in the taller man’s face, a hint of sympathy tugging at his cheeks. “Don’t give up so soon. You’d be surprised by what you can find out about other people’s love interests.”

With that, Tsukishima walked away, presumably to go deal with a patient. 

_That’s right, he’s currently seeing Yamaguchi. Does that mean Tsukishima thought Yamaguchi didn’t like him? Ridiculous. They were so obvious._

Ennoshita looked longingly at the door to the patient’s room he was just in.

_Tanaka, on the other hand…_

\---

It’s a curious thing, the brain.

The organ that reigns supreme over the rest of the nervous system, the regal piece of bodily equipment that deals with a multitude things; generating muscle activity patterns, controlling responses to stimuli, regulating the secretion of various hormones, and integrating information from sensory input, to name a few.

Both the hypothalamus and the thalamus--located in the brain--are involved in triggering involuntary and partially voluntary actions such as eating and drinking. If some sort of neuroendocrine dysregulation were to occur, that is to say, hormones were not signalled properly, various motivations would be eliminated. 

This was the case for Sugawara Koushi.

“No, no, he’s never had a problem with body image as far as I know,” Kiyoko muses from across the desk. “It’s biological; at some point in his development, his hypothalamus or thalamus experienced some sort of malformation.”

“Forgive me, I haven’t dealt with psych in over five years; what would that alter?” Daichi wondered.

“Well, for Sugawara, it means that he has a higher sensitivity to leptin, which is commonly known as the ‘satiety hormone.’ Thus, even the smallest amount of leptin secretion after eating something causes him to feel extremely full--eating anymore would make him feel sick to his stomach.”

_Poor Suga… It’s not his fault…_

“Aren’t there any drugs which would lower his sensitivity to leptin?” Daichi inquired.

Kiyoko smiled at the dark-haired doctor. “Very perceptive, Doctor Sawamura. Yes, such drugs exist.” Her smile faltered. “Unfortunately, Sugawara is highly allergic to those drugs. We barely were able to stem the anaphylaxis when we first tried the drugs.”

Daichi was visibly saddened. “I see… What can we do then, to lessen the amount of pain he’s in? Surely there must be _something_ …”

“Medically speaking, not as of now. Socially speaking, pain is easier to bear if someone is there to help you through it.” Her smile was now a sad one, and Daichi realized that truly there was not much he could do to help Suga other than to coach him through the hard times.

The girl who had remained solemn at Kiyoko’s side spoke up. “I’ve known Suga for a long time now… He’s strong,” Yachi started. “But ever since he’s met you, when I’ve had to watch him eat, he’s been more compliant.”

She scratched the back of her head before continuing. “I don’t know what exactly it is, but something about you encourages him to eat.” She paused before grinning and adding one more final thought. “Even if it’s not in front of you!”

Kiyoko laughed heartily. “Seriously though, Sawamura, you let him carry his food back to his room? What are you, a first-year resident?” 

Daichi looked at the upper corner of the office as his face reddened. “I-I’m usually in orthopedics, so I don’t expect people to just drop their food on the ground.”

“Of course you don’t! But this is the _psych_ floor, Sawamura. You _should_ expect it here. In fact, you should expect anything and everything to happen on this floor. Always be prepared.”

Daichi nodded his head. “Thank you for the advice, Kiyoko-san.” He bowed his head slightly.

Yachi giggled at the action. “What’s so funny, Hitoka?” Kiyoko queried. 

“Nothing,” she said, waving her hand. “It’s funny to see someone respect you so much.”

Kiyoko looked shocked as she stared at her partner, mouth wide. “You mean I’m not respectable?!”

“No, you’re definitely respectable!” she started, holding up her hands defensively. “It’s just, you normally scare away the women before they can bow, and the men are too busy drooling to contort their body in such a way.”

Kiyoko’s eyes widened. She turned to Daichi. “Is this true?!”

“Uh…” he uttered, tugging at the collar of his shirt. “I don’t know that it’s my place to speak on that issue…”

“Sawamura!”

\---

It’s a curious thing, the skeleton.

There are many forms of skeletons that exist: the exoskeleton, which is the hard outer shell of an animal such as an arthropod; the hydroskeleton, which is the fluid-filled cavity surrounded by muscles found in soft-bodied animals; the cytoskeleton, which maintains the shape of cells and supports organelles.

The skeleton most people imagine when they hear said word is the endoskeleton, the internal support structure of many animals, composed of highly compacted mineralized tissue. Human bones are formed from what are called osteoblasts, cells that form a matrix of collagen interspersed with calcium, magnesium, and phosphate ions. Those components ultimately combine to form what we know to be bone tissue.

In a patient with type I osteogenesis imperfecta, fewer collagen matrices are formed due to a lack of collagen production. So it makes sense that the bones, which are composed of less bone tissue, would be more brittle.

What confused Hinata is why he hadn’t broken a bone up until this point. But he wasn’t about to ask his cranky doctor about it. 

Hinata was aware of the gravitas that the man exerted, but he wasn’t sure what it stemmed from. An apathy towards all others? A desire to prove himself? He was reasonably sure it wasn’t the former, although he had no idea who he’d be trying to prove himself to.

_Whatever. He’s an idiot anyway._

Hinata allowed the slightest smile to form on his face.

_But he is kinda cute…_

Suddenly, the immobile Hinata slapped himself in the face. _Don’t be stupid! Idiots aren’t cute!_

Coincidentally, the aforementioned _idiot_ decided to show up right after Hinata hit himself. From the stinging he felt, Hinata figured his face was a little red, but he’d have to hope that Kageyama wouldn’t notice.

After taking his place standing next to the cot, Kageyama muttered, “Why is your face red?”

_Damn._

“M-Maybe I just got anxious when you came in here!”

“Why would I make you anxious, dumbass!”

“Shut up, idiot!”

Kageyama slammed his clipboard on the table before storming towards the door. “Kageyama, wait!” Hinata yelled.

“I’m not in the mood to deal with an unwilling patient right now!”

Hinata looked down at his feet in the bed. “I’m sorry, alright?” His facial features softened before he continued. “I didn’t mean to get so upset.”

Kageyama released his iron grip from the door handle, and he headed back into the room. “It’s alright. I suppose I lost my own head as well, so you’re not entirely at fault…”

He straightened and picked up his clipboard. “Now, as for why I’m here…” He made his best attempt at a smile. Hinata stopped him with his hand before he could let him continue.

“Please don’t do that. You’ll scare little kids.”

Kageyama looked a little upset at the comment, but not entirely surprised. “I thought I had gotten better at it…” Hinata shook his head in response. “Anyway, that’s besides the point. I came here because I’ve decided on a treatment plan.”

Hinata sat up in his bed excitedly before Kageyama continued. “While your leg bone will have to heal over time on its own, we still want to prevent future bone fractures from occurring. I’ll be prescribing you a combination of bisphosphonates and calcium supplements that will help to rebuild the strength of your bone tissue.”

“So I’ll be able to play volleyball again?!”

“Well, probably. It all depends on if you’re able to produce enough collagen to rebuild your leg bone. And that’s all on you.”

“I’ll do it!”

“Hinata, you can’t just _decide_ to produce collagen--”

“Look out world, middle blocker Hinata Shouyou is back!”

“Dumbass! Stop jumping on the bed before you break another bone!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pfft, this is turning fluffier by the minute. I didn't intend for that to happen, but oh well.
> 
> EDIT: I totally have no idea why the chap notes from chapter 1 are showing up below these ones, but you can just ignore them xD


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ennoshita implies a few things, Nishinoya picks colors for his scarf, Hinata tries to take some pills, and Suga asks for Daichi's favorite food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No fancy repetition or anything in this one. Too much of something really lessens its impact, yeah? Anyway, enjoy! (or try to)

If the man inside the machine had any notion of restraint within him, Ennoshita was unaware of it.

“Tanaka-san, please remain still while you are being scanned.”

“But Ennoshita-san, this is so cool!”

_He seemed so tough just five minutes ago. Now it’s like watching a child._

Sighing, Ennoshita motioned to another doctor to let them know to pause the scan. As the machine whirred down, Ennoshita walked over to Tanaka’s side to whisper in his ear. “Look, if you don’t shut up and stop moving, the radiation might give you gynecomastia.”

Tanaka furrowed his eyebrows and scrunched up his nose. “I thought we went over this; I don’t understand any of your special doctor words.”

Ennoshita smirked as he realized how this would play out. “You know where your pectorals are, right?”

“Of course!” He made a point to try and flex them. “These pecs are pretty great, to be honest.”

“Okay good, so I don’t have to explain where those are. Now, imagine that they’re a bit more… supple.”

Once again, Tanaka was confused. “Supple?”

Ennoshita snapped his fingers as he searched for a better, more telling word. They increased in volume until he found it, his head snapping towards Tanaka. “Perhaps, perky is a better way to describe it?”

“Perky…?” Tanaka began, before his eyes widened in realization. Immediately, the man laid flat on his back, arms pressed firmly against his side. “I’ll stay still.”

“I’m glad; I think it’s best for the both of us.” 

Ennoshita gave the man behind the glass a thumbs-up and the machine whirred back to life. Meanwhile, Tanaka slowly proceeded through the mechanical ring that analyzed his insides. Content that he would have no further trouble, Ennoshita left the room to join his fellow doctor.

“What’d you say to get him to quit his moving?”

Ennoshita shrugged. “I implied that he’d grow breasts if he didn’t stop.”

The other doctor let out a full-bodied laugh, throwing his head back. “Well, I don’t know if the radiation would do _that_ , but certainly nothing good could arise from it. In any case, nice work.”

Nodding his thanks, Ennoshita sat back in a chair and waited for the scan to finish. Despite the insistent humming of the machine, an eerie silence befell the pair. Before the scan, Ennoshita had felt for a mass and thought he may have felt the beginnings of one near where his stomach was punctured.

The silence was a result of the fear of something imminent.

When the machine began to click down, Ennoshita slid over to the computer screen where the other doctor was situated. 

_Damn._

“I thought we drained it all--”

The other doctor cut him off. “We did.” He shook his head. “This is from something else. Look at where it’s pooling,” he said, moving his finger in a circle around the pus-filled region.

Ennoshita put a hand to his mouth in shock. “His appendix--”

“Or lack thereof, to be accurate.”

“But his appendix wasn’t perforated!”

The doctor slumped back in his chair. “I know. Through highly unfortunate and unrelated circumstances, his appendix burst.”

“How is he not writhing on the ground in pain right now?!”

“Beats me. The kid’s tough, I s’pose. But look,” he began, pointing once again to the affected area. “His body walled off the perforated appendix so that the infection couldn’t spread. That response likely saved him from some fatal form of sepsis.”

_Amazing…_

Ennoshita looked grimly at the pained man still waiting in the other room. “So what now, then?”

“We treat the infection with some serious antibiotics and then perform a laparoscopic appendectomy. Luckily, we caught this early, so he shouldn’t be on the antibiotics too long.”

With a sigh, Ennoshita picked up his clipboard and headed back into the tomography room to deliver the word.

“So I’ve good news and bad news: what do you want to hear first?”

Tanaka raised his eyes as he pondered the question for a moment, before settling on “Good!”

“Well, you don’t have a peritoneal abscess, or any abscess for that matter.”

“Really?!” His eyes gleamed as he tried to get up to celebrate, only to promptly sit back down and groan, placing his hands on his lower-right abdomen.

“That brings me to the bad news.” Ennoshita chuckled before placing his hand to his forehead.

“Hey, bad news isn’t funny!” Tanaka complained, one hand still on his stomach.

Shaking his head, Ennoshita apologized. “Sorry. I just can’t believe you had the _gall bladder_ not to let us know how much pain you were in.”

Another quizzical look from Tanaka.

Ennoshita waved it off. “Doctor humor.”

Tanaka scoffed. “I get the feeling you don’t know what _humor_ is.”

“ _Anyways_ ,” Ennoshita began, clearing his throat. “I regret to inform you that your appendix has burst. Fortunately, your body has contained the infection, and so we’ll put you on some pills that will fight the infection until the time comes when we deem it necessary to take out your appendix.”

Tanaka sat still for a few seconds before breathing out a submissive, “ _Shit_.” He groaned loudly before laying back on the platform. “I can’t afford any of your fancy pills, not to mention the whole surgery thing.”

Ennoshita put on a hand on Tanaka’s shoulder. “Hey, what did I tell you about the money thing.” He looked down into the shaved man’s eyes. “We _will_ treat you, despite your financial situation. As for your bathroom situation… well, let’s just say I will _not_ be treating the side effects that you leave in the toilet.”

The supine man playfully shoved Ennoshita’s hand off of his shoulder. “You asshole.”

“No, my asshole will be fine. Now yours…” Ennoshita started, clicking his tongue, “yours will be prone to the diarrhetic effects of both Cipro _and_ Flagyl. Ouch.”

“I hate you.”

“I’m alright with that.”

“And your jokes suck.”

“Now that’s where I draw the line!”

\---

“Based on your preliminary cheek swab, we believe you have the potential to donate your bone marrow.”

Asahi sat aghast on the table. _Why didn’t I do this sooner. I’m an idiot._

“Of course, we’ll have to do a few more blood tests to be sure. Your HLA markers must match exactly with Nishinoya’s, unless we want to risk the body rejecting the marrow. This goes much farther than just having the same blood type.”

“I understand. How soon can I get these tests done?”

The hematologist that helped out earlier had performed the swab. He looked over his glasses that were settled down on the lower part of his nose with an amused smile. “Today, I suppose.”

Asahi’s heart leapt inside his chest. “Thank you so much, Doctor…” His voice trailed off.

_I don’t know this man’s name._

_I’m a horrible person._

The older fellow smiled at him. “Furudate. It’s my pleasure, Azumane-kun. Drop by my office in a few hours and I’ll be ready to administer those tests.” With that, Doctor Furudate left Asahi alone in his room. Asahi headed in the opposite direction, back towards Nishinoya’s room. 

_I won’t tell him yet, just in case I’m not a match…_

Upon hearing the opening of the door, Nishinoya immediately perked up in his bed. “Asahi?” he managed to weakly inquire.

“Lie down, Noya. Don’t exert yourself anymore than you have to.” Surprisingly, Nishinoya obeyed, letting his wild hair fall back against the pillow without a complaint.

“Just so you know, I’m still expecting that scarf! Just because my heart stopped beating doesn’t give you an excuse not to knit me anything!” Nishinoya nearly yelled, which garnered a soft chuckle from Asahi. 

“I’ll get it done,” Asahi assured. “You have any particular color preferences?”

Nishinoya contorted his face in a way that could only connote deep thought, something Asahi thought was highly atypical for the shorter man. After a few moments, he opened his mouth, only to shut it again. 

_I didn’t mean to stress him out with this_ , Asahi thought in an ironically stressed manner.

“Orange and black!” Nishinoya finally roared out. “I want it to be orange and black!”

“Orange… and black?” Asahi slowly questioned. “You do realize those colors don’t go together, right?” He scratched the back of his head. “Like, at all. Unless it’s Halloween. Which it’s not?”

“Asahiiii, you asked what colors I wanted,” Nishinoya whined. “And those are the colors I want!”

Asahi dropped his shoulders in defeat and tugged at his wrist. “I suppose I did, didn’t I… Well then, I guess those are the colors…” He smiled at his spirited patient. 

“Just make sure you don’t take too long!” Nishinoya shouted, before looking down at his feet. “I doubt I have much longer anyway…”

_Don’t lose hope, Noya!_

The nurse looked longingly at the man in bed. “Do you want to talk about it?” Asahi asked quietly.

Nishinoya quickly shook his head. “Actually, I’d rather not. Impending death? Not the lightest of conversation material.”

_Don’t tell him, Asahi… On the off chance you aren’t a match, he’ll be heartbroken. So don’t tell him._

Asahi frowned and took a seat in a chair next to Nishinoya’s cot. “Let’s talk about something else then.” He proceeded to indiscreetly scoot his seat forward, closer to Nishinoya’s side.

“Like what?” the smaller man inquired.

Asahi sat in his chair, at a loss for words. He looked around the room before finally settling on something to say. “Well, I don’t know… You’re usually the one that starts the conversations,” Asahi said while tugging sheepishly at his bun.

A bout of laughter built its way up from Nishinoya's chest and bubbled out his mouth. “Because you don’t know how to be social, Asahi!”

“Hey, that’s not true!” Asahi protested desperately. “I talked to that hematologist earlier!”

Nishinoya raised his eyebrows at Asahi’s retort. “Why were you talking to a hematologist?”

_No, I can’t tell him!_

“B-Because I was concerned about you!” Asahi stammered. _And because I was trying to see if I can help save you._

“Don’t be. Nothing can keep Nishinoya Yuu down for too long!” He nearly pulled out his IV as he raised his fists upward, but he was stopped by a panicking Asahi who kept it from happening. “Thanks, Asahi.” Asahi just shook his head and smiled in response.

_Don’t thank me just yet, Noya. I hope that I can do so much more for you._

Unbeknownst to Nishinoya, Asahi’s smile hid the slightest twinge of sadness.

_I’m just sorry I took so long._

\---

“Alright, so you just need to swallow these in the morning and at night, every day. Make sure you drink a full glass of water each time you take a dose, okay?”

Hinata nodded, acknowledging his doctor’s instructions. “These pills are little big, don’t you think?” he breathed.

“They’re just normal-sized pills. I don’t see what the problem is,” Kageyama replied.

“Is there… a-any peanut butter or something that I can put the pills in?” Hinata asked shyly, his face tilted downward as he phrased the question.

Kageyama stood in shock. “You don’t know how to swallow pills?!” 

“S-Shut up!” Hinata stared at a singular tile on the floor. “I didn’t take many pills as a kid...” He looked up to stare Kageyama in the eyes. “Some of us had it rough growing up!”

“Dumbass! Everyone has to swallow food and water in order to survive. You’re a grown--” Kageyama started, pausing to look at Hinata’s body. Clearing his throat, he continued, “Well, not so grown man, and you can’t swallow _pills_!”

“I am too grown!”

Kageyama put a hand to his forehead. “I can’t believe an Olympic volleyball player can’t swallow pills…”

“Shut up, idiot!” In order to prove himself, Hinata shoved all of his pills into his mouth and attempted to swallow.

All ten of them.

Before he knew it, he was coughing up a multi-colored storm of capsules onto Kageyama’s shoes. “Dumbass! Not all at once!”

“You were saying I couldn’t swallow pills!”

“You _can’t_ swallow pills, Hinata!”

“That’s not the point!”

“If you can’t swallow pills, then it is the point!”

Hinata fell back against his cot with his arms splayed outward. “There’s no winning with you, Bakageyama,” he moaned. Kageyama groaned, unamused and unimpressed by his new nickname. 

“You are easily more childish than any patient I’ve ever had before,” Kageyama muttered while cleaning up the medicinal mess on the ground. 

The man in bed frowned. “Is it just because I can’t swallow pills?” Hinata wondered aloud.

The lid of the trash can slammed shut after Kageyama dumped the pills in. “No, it is most certainly not just because you can’t swallow pills.” He paused. “Although that doesn’t help your case, either.”

Hinata nestled himself further into the bed, pulling his sheets over most of his body. “Well, you haven’t met my sister then,” he grumbled, his voice muffled by the cotton stretched over his mouth.

As if on cue, furious knocking came from the other side of the door, before a high-pitched voice yelled out, “Shouyou! Open up!”

“Speaking of…” Hinata ran his hand through his bed-head hair. “You might not want to get that.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Kageyama scolded as he walked over to the door. “I mean, honestly, what could be worse than you.”

When he opened the door, he was surprised to find himself tilting his head down to look at the visitor. Not caring that she looked young, he took up a monotonous tone: “And you are?”

“Shouyou, a scary man is blocking the door!”

_Scary man…?_

Still stunned by the moniker, Kageyama stepped out of the way so that the ball of sunshine could pass through. She proceeded to climb into the bed with Hinata, who just laughed at Kageyama’s apparent plight.

“Natsu! I’m so glad you came to visit!” Hinata ruffled the younger girl’s hair, who giggled in response. 

“Of course your sister would come to visit! Someone has to take care of you,” she started, before pointing a finger at Kageyama. “And it’s obviously not gonna be this guy.”

_So this is his sister, huh? It makes so much sense._

“Now, now, Natsu, this is my doctor. He’s here specifically for the reason of taking care of me.”

Natsu’s petite mouth widened in astonishment. “Him?! But scary men aren’t good doctors, Shouyou!” She jumped out of bed and quickly grabbed the nearest wheelchair. “Quick, get in! I’ve gotta get you outta here!”

_Why does she keep calling me scary?! I’m not scary!_

“Come on Natsu, he’s not that bad,” Hinata argued. “...except when he forces you to swallow your pills.”

“Swallow pills?!” Natsu exclaimed. “Screw the elevator, I’m rolling you out the window before this madman takes your soul!”

The two animated siblings continued their playful banter for a while, always managing to get in a comment on Kageyama’s creepy face.

_Now I know what’s worse than you, Hinata._

_Two of you._

Kageyama sighed before smiling at his clipboard.

_Still, it’s nice to see him so happy._

\---

 

“So, because I was an idiot and not thinking--I don’t want you to blame yourself at all since it wasn’t your fault--we’ll be eating in the room today.”

“That’s alright,” Suga hummed. “Sorry for making you upset.”

“Hey, I said it wasn’t your fault, didn’t I? Let’s just move past it.” With that, Daichi extended a hand towards Suga. “Hi, I’m your doctor, Sawamura Daichi.”

Suga chuckled, his silvery hair bouncing a bit as he did so. “Are we really doing this?” he giggled. Daichi left his hand out, which indicated to Suga that he was fully serious. “Alright, if you insist…”

He reached his hand out to Daichi’s and gave it a firm shake. “Sugawara Koushi. But you can just call me Suga.” The ash blond man looked up for a moment. “Wait, I can still call you Daichi, right?”

“Of course,” Daichi assured him, his response interspersed with a few chuckles. “Now tell me, what would you like for dinner tonight?”

Suga fell back into his bed and put a hand on his chin, pretending to be in deep thought. “Hm… A tough choice to make…” After a while, he snapped his fingers, an answer having come to his mind. “Shoyu ramen!”

“S-Shoyu ramen?!” Daichi spluttered. Quickly though, he readjusted his face so as to appear professional. “Sorry for that outburst. I’m just surprised by your choice, that’s all.”

_As it happens to be a favorite of mine._

Suga smiled from his place on the bed. “Is it alright with you?”

“More than alright,” Daichi replied. “I’ll go down and get it now. Don’t do anything silly while I’m gone!”

“Hah, no need to worry, Dai.”

_Dai? That’s new._

Daichi smiled at Suga before heading out of the room and towards the food court. “I’ll be back in a few minutes!”

“See you then!”

When Daichi returned from his trip with two bowls of ramen in hand, Suga gave a squeal of delight. “So what caused you to choose shoyu ramen, huh?”

Suga absentmindedly twirled his ramen with his chopsticks as he summoned up a response. “Well, I was just in the mood for it, you know?” he said shyly.

Daichi wasn’t convinced.

“You know, shoyu ramen is probably one of my favorite things to eat…” Daichi mused before eagerly digging into his food. 

Suga seemed to feign surprise at the comment. “Really?” He put a hand to his face. “I wasn’t aware of that…”

“Tsk, we both know you were, Suga.” Daichi retorted. The man in bed appeared to be genuinely shocked now. Slowly, a smile formed on his face.

“How did you know that I knew?” he pondered. 

“You gotta give me a little credit for applying my psych knowledge here, Sug. You probably experienced an anxiety spike because telling the truth would give you away. As a result, your autonomic nervous system drains blood from the face, ears, or even your extremities. This could cause you to feel cold or itchy and therefore touch your face.” He pointed to Suga. “Which you happened to do when you told me you weren’t aware.”

Suga hummed. “Mm, you got me, Daichi.”

“Now the real question is, how did you find out?” Daichi inquired.

“Ah well, I may or may not have had a little insider help,” Suga cooed, toying with a strand of his hair. 

“Who…?” Daichi started, before experiencing a great epiphany.

“When Yachi hid behind the pillar during lunch earlier…”

_She was spying on me?!_

“You got Yachi to watch me eat lunch?!”

Suga let out a hearty laugh, tilting his whole body back as he did so. “Come on, I managed to get your favorite meal. Stop complaining and eat! At this rate, I’ll be done before you, and _that’s_ saying something.”

Daichi’s expression changed to a more somber one. “About that… Kiyoko-san told me about your leptin sensitivity.” Suga opened his mouth to say something, but Daichi held up his hand. “I just want to say that you’re so strong, Suga. What you deal with… It’s amazing, what you’re able to do.”

In his cot, Suga started to blush a little. “Dai, you can’t just say that…”

Daichi blushed in return before sheepishly rubbing the back of his hand. “Sorry, I suppose you’re right… Just forget about it, yeah?” He turned his attention back to the delicious bowl of ramen in front of him. “Let’s eat!”

“Itadakimasu!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, I honestly have no idea what I'm doing.
> 
> Also, Furudate as a character whaaaaaa? Not sure what I'm doing there. Hm. 
> 
> Well, hopefully I'll be able to churn out a chapter in the next two days--otherwise, it'll be another week before I update. Sorry :(
> 
> Thanks to akishime for beta'ing, and I hope y'all enjoyed! Also, I definitely cackled at Tanaka's fear of having boobs. Anywho.
> 
> EDIT: Once again, chapter 1's notes are below here. Ignore them :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interesting (probably not so interesting) look at the five senses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is super late. Sorry :(
> 
> Thanks to akishime for beta'ing this rushed and probably horrid chapter. On that note, enjoy!

Taste.

Hinata certainly wasn’t fond of the bitter flavor left in his mouth when he kept a pill he couldn’t swallow in his mouth too long. Luckily, his sister had managed to sneak in two large jars of peanut butter and some disposable spoons, so he didn’t have too much of a problem with it.

But two jars of peanut butter don’t last that long when you start stress eating every time your doctor enters the room.

Hinata jumped up in his bed as he heard the door slam shut and the footsteps of his scowling doctor. “Kageyama! I told you not to sneak up on me like that!”

The taller man grunted. “How can I sneak up on you when the door is in plain view in front of your bed…”

Hinata nervously shuffled his feet under the sheets. “Well, just don’t do it, okay?” Kageyama snorted as he approached the side table with Hinata’s pills and a large glass of water.

“Remember, take as much time as you need with these. And by that I mean don’t shove them all in at once.”

“That was one time!”

Kageyama rolled his eyes at a glacial speed, making sure his patient could note the disingenuity he was trying to express. But even despite that, Hinata knew that he cared.

_Why else would he have blushed the other day when I winked at him?_

But he definitely only cared in a platonic, ‘I’m your doctor and you’re my patient’ sort of way. Nothing love-related here. 

Nope. 

At least, that’s what Hinata tried to make himself believe. But despite his efforts, he always found his gaze being drawn to the man’s deep blue eyes, ones that starkly contrasted his otherwise stormy complexion.

_Okay, maybe he’s a little attractive. But only a little._

As far as he knew, it was a one-way sort of deal anyway, so he didn’t bother to pursue it. Then again, Hinata wasn’t aware of who placed the blanket on him when he shivered in the highly air conditioned room, or who mysteriously left pork buns at his bedside. Of course he thought it was a one-way sort of deal.

_Kageyama probably tends to way more interesting patients than just me, so it makes sense._

A sharp comment from Kageyama snapped Hinata out of his stupor. “Hey, you need to stop eating all this peanut butter,” he criticized, eyeing the empty canisters in the trash bin next to Hinata’s bed.

“It’s your fault that I’m eating them,” Hinata grumbled.

“My fault?! I’m not the one dropping off a three-year supply of peanut butter every time I come and visit you!” Kageyama retorted. Natsu always seemed to arrive with the good when she came to see her brother.

The raise of his voice seemed to take Hinata by shock, who consequently shrank back into his bed a little, hiding his small body under the covers. Kageyama just sighed before mindlessly flipping through the papers on his clipboard. “Look, maybe you should just request a different doctor…”

Hinata watched the second hand on the clock slow down. He was too surprised to formulate a coherent response, instead managing a weak, “Huh?”

Kageyama straightened his back before repeating, “I said, maybe you should just request a different doctor. Clearly this isn’t working.” He set the clipboard on the table before continuing. “A doctor and their patient should always maintain a healthy relationship, which, regrettably, I don’t think I can do.”

After that comment, Hinata noticed the slightest reddening of Kageyama’s cheeks.

_Could Kageyama possibly…_

_Like me?_

“I’m really sorry for any trouble I may have given you in the time that I’ve been your doctor, and I hope that your recovery is swift.” Slowly, Kageyama turned around and took a step toward the door.

His journey was halted when he felt a soft hand grasping his wrist.

“Kageyama,” Hinata started, his head down. Suddenly, he looked up and stared Kageyama in the eyes. “Please continue to be my doctor!”

His desperate plea was far from facetious; in fact, Hinata meant what he said in every way possible. “Look, I get that I’m not the most agreeable patient…” he started, rubbing the back of his head while he talked. “Or the best behaved…”

Kageyama scoffed at that last bit.

“But I really like you!”

Hinata quickly placed his hands over his mouth.

_Oh._

_I didn’t mean to say that last part._

The raven-haired man’s eyes slowly widened. “You… what?”

“N-Never mind!” Hinata stammered, waving his arms haphazardly in front of his chest. “Forget that I said anything!”

With that, Hinata hid himself under his covers. “I’m taking a nap now, so I’d appreciate some peace and quiet,” he muttered. Little did he know that as he buried himself under the protection of the blankets, his doctor stood frozen, his mouth wide open, stunned by what had taken place.

\---

Smell.

As Asahi entered Nishinoya’s room, he was quickly met with a pungent odor, one that permeated the entirety of the open space. It smelled strongly of antiseptic, and the sickeningly sweet, yet sterile odor was more than enough to put him on edge.

_It smells like death_ , he thought grimly.

In the bed lay a pale figure, a ghost of who was once a very lively man. Nishinoya was growing weaker by the day, and Asahi wondered each and every day if it would be his last 

His blood tests needed to come back. If it was a match, he could save Nishinoya’s life.

And Asahi’s sanity.

At least, that’s what Asahi figured. As he spent more time with other patients and less time with Nishinoya--constantly visited by more experienced doctors--he discovered that without the fiery man, he struggled to get through the work day. Each slip of paperwork, each dose of medicine administered, each patient’s need tended to, reminded him that Nishinoya was dying.

Asahi softly shut the door behind him and went to Nishinoya’s side. The smaller man was sound asleep, his light snores teasing the bleached strand of hair on his forehead.

Smiling, albeit sadly, Asahi checked the IV to make sure everything was functioning properly. That was about all he could do at this point, considering the doctors had recently taken Nishinoya off of some of his medications.

When all was said and done, the nurse took a seat in the bedside chair and let out a long sigh. At his side sat the beginnings of a scarf, a few rows of orange and black already stitched together. Tools in hand, he began to once again work on the scarf.

It was hardly a distraction from the situation--the scarf was for Nishinoya, after all--but it still managed to cheer him up a little when he was feeling down. For instance, now.

A soft knock at the door caused his fingers to pause in their work for a moment. Asahi got up to answer the door and was surprised to see Dr. Furudate standing outside with a smile on his face.

“May I come in?” the old hematologist questioned. “I’ve got some news you probably will want to hear.”

Asahi nodded his head in response. “Sure. But try to be quiet. Nishinoya’s sleeping.”

Furudate smiled. “Oh, I think he’ll want to hear this too. Could you wake him for me?”

_Could it be the results?!_

Again, the nurse nodded before rushing into the room and softly shaking the man in bed awake. “Noya, Dr. Furudate is here to talk to you about something. Remember the hematologist?”

Nishinoya lazily rubbed his eyes. “And it wasn’t something that could’ve waited until I woke up naturally from my beauty sleep? I value my beauty sleep very much, I’ll have you know, Asahi.”

Asahi chuckled. “I know you do, Noya. But please, hear out what he has to say.” _I’m pretty sure you’ll be glad you were woken up._

The smaller man grunted in response before pushing himself up so that his back sat against the headboard. Once properly situated, he crossed his tube-tangled arms in front of him to illustrate his discontentedness with being awake. “So, what’s so important, doc?”

Furudate smirked at Nishinoya. “I suppose if you really want me to, I could come back at another time. I just figured you’d really like to hear what I have to say.”

“No, the deed’s already been done,” Nishinoya said, waving his hand. “Just get on with it.”

“Well, a man came to me recently asking if he could get tested to see if he was match for a marrow transplant,” he started. Asahi turned his head away. “As it turns out…” Furudate started, holding up a paper with test results on it, “he was.”

Suddenly, Asahi felt a hand grasp his, and he looked down to find Nishinoya holding on tightly. “The transplant could take place as soon as tomorrow. In fact, I’d probably urge that it does happen as soon as possible, given your current state.”

Nishinoya’s face remained paralyzed in a state of shock, unable to comprehend the situation. “A d-donor’s been found?!”

With the slightest flick of his head, Furudate motioned towards Asahi.

Without warning, a second hand made its way to Asahi’s arm and gripped him tightly. “A-Asahi-san?” After managed to say his name, Nishinoya began to sniffle as tears formed on his face.

A warm embrace soon followed. “Asahi-san!” he cried out. As Asahi returned the hug in full, he smiled. 

_Sorry I took so long, Yuu._

\---

Sight.

Suga had shown little concern over his body image for a long time, further indicating that his anorexia was biological rather than sociological. But when little hairs began to grow all over his body, especially where they’d never really grown before, he quickly became disgusted by the way he looked.

“Look at me, Daichi. I’m practically a chimpanzee,” Suga moaned. “How am I even supposed to get the ones all over my back?”

_Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if you helped me with those ones, Daichi._

_Whoa there, Koushi. Where did that come from?_

Daichi chuckled at his apparent distress. The gall! “You look fine, Suga. I don’t know what you’re stressing about.”

“The hairs that are appearing all over me! That’s what I’m stressing about!”

“Nothing that can’t just be shaved off.”

Suga sighed. _Yes, but that takes effort, Daichi._

“The medical term for the hairs that are suddenly growing all over you is lanugo. Typically you see them on a newborn baby, but they can be a result of malnutrition as well,” Daichi explained. “Your body is trying to heat itself, since you don’t have enough body fat to do it internally.”

Suga tilted his head in the mirror and the rubbed the peach fuzz that was now coating his face. “Well, at least it’s close to the same color as the hair on my head…”

This elicited another laugh from Daichi. _I didn’t really mean it as a joke, but I guess that’s alright_ , Suga thinks inwardly.

Daichi eyed the clock before announcing, “Time to eat. You got anything in mind?”

Suga shook his head. “I’m fine with whatever you pick, Dai.”

“Remember, don’t rush yourself.” Daichi reminded him. “We have all the time in the world to eat. I just want to make sure your body can handle the feeling of fullness as well as increase its nourishment.”

_Dai… Thank you._

“Of course.” Suga weakly lifted up a hand to pat Daichi on the back to show his thanks. Ever since he’d started treatment with Daichi, movement had begun to get easier, since he was eating more. But it was still difficult sometimes, and now was one of those times.

When he felt his bed slowly rise in elevation, Suga let out a hearty laugh. “Don’t strain yourself on my behalf,” Daichi scolded as he mechanically lifted the bed. “At least let me make it a little easier for you.”

To help out further, Daichi bent down a little, the perfect height for Suga to deliver a swift punch to the gut. “I’m not that weak!” Suga goaded. Daichi stepped back, clutching his stomach, shock etched on his face.

With a huff, Suga crossed his arms in front of his chest, but a smile remained on his face. “You can go get my food now, Daichi,” he teased. 

Daichi tried his best to pout, but he still ended up smiling, even blushing a little, as he waved his temporary goodbye to Suga. Meanwhile, Suga stared longingly at the suddenly closed door, already missing the man that had walked through it.

_Jeez, Daichi. Do you even realize what you do to me?_

Suga grinned sillily as he turned to his table and quickly picked up the phone to talk with his gossiping friend. The phone rang for a few seconds before he heard a soft “Hello?” from the other end.

“Yachi? Yeah, Daichi just went to get food for us. He totally blushed when he was leaving.”

“He totally just walked by and his face was still red!” Suga heard giggling from the other end before a sharp gasp. “Oh god, I think he just heard me. Suga, what do I do?”

Silence.

“Suga?! Suga, you can’t just leave me with him! He’s so muscular and scary! Suga!”

And then Suga heard the dial tone.

\---

Hearing.

Upon entering Tanaka’s room, Ennoshita was surprised to hear a buzzing sound coming from the bathroom. He knocked on the door.

“Tanaka? Is everything alright in there?”

“Yeah, everything’s just--” Tanaka started, only to interrupt himself with a groan. “--Just fine, that is.”

A grim expression made its way onto Ennoshita’s face. “Doesn’t sound ‘just fine’ to me. Can I come in?”

He heard a sigh come from the other side of the door. Grudgingly, Tanaka breathed out, “Fine.”

Having received sufficient permission, Ennoshita opened the door and entered the bathroom. He was taken aback when he found Tanaka with hair clippers in his hand apparently attempting to shave his head, although he had clearly missed a few spots.

“You know, technically you shouldn’t be doing that here,” Ennoshita warned.

Tanaka grunted in response. “My sister, Saeko, dropped it off for me. Sorry if I’m breaking your rules, but this is just something I do pretty often.” He started rubbing his lower abdomen before continuing. “Although it’s definitely never been _this_ hard to shave my head…”

Ennoshita shook his head and chuckled. “I suppose I can overlook it. But you really shouldn’t be straining your body like this if it’s that hard to reach to the back of your head. In fact, you really should be either sitting or lying down right now.”

“That sounds like a pain in the ass.”

“Now, now, Tanaka, we discussed this. The only pain you might be feeling in your ass is from diarrhea.”

“I hate you.” The grumpy man paused before turning to look at Ennoshita. “Can you help me, then?”

Ennoshita was startled by his request. “Help you?”

“Shave my head. I’ll sit in a chair if you help me finish this.” Finishing his comment, he reached his hand out to hand the clippers to Ennoshita, who was still somewhat surprised.

Before he knew it, Ennoshita had the clippers in hand, Tanaka was seated in a plastic chair in front of him, and Ennoshita was working on all the places that Tanaka was previously unable to reach or had somehow missed. While he worked, he let one of his hands rest on Tanaka’s shoulder. He thought about moving it, but decided against it when Tanaka made no protest against it being there.

_Why am I doing this?_

_Because I love him._

_Can I even call it love? I feel like love requires one to know the person much more than I currently know Tanaka._

Tanaka mumbled something under his breath, breaking Ennoshita from his trance, even if he didn’t quite catch what the man said.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you very well,” Ennoshita said.

In an angry tone, Tanaka repeated, “Thank you for helping me!”

_He’s saying thank you?!_

_But he’s saying it so angrily…_

“No problem,” Ennoshita responded before he knew what he was saying. “As your physician, I suppose it’s my job to make sure you don’t cut yourself with sharp objects. Does your sister always do your hair?”

Tanaka shifted in the chair before muttering a “yes,” as if he were embarrassed by the fact. Ennoshita laughed at his apparent discomfort, and Tanaka subsequently blushed.

“It’s not funny!”

Ennoshita shook his head, even though Tanaka couldn’t see it. “You misunderstand why I’m laughing. It’s not because you get your hair trimmed by your sister. I don’t mind that at all. It’s because you seem to be so embarrassed by that.”

“Anyway, as my doctor, shouldn’t you be more understanding?” Tanaka inquired.

Ennoshita sighed. “If they paid me to be understanding, I’d be quite rich, Tanaka-san.”

Tanaka let out a humph before Ennoshita turned off the clippers, their insistent buzzing finally whirring down. “Alright, I think I’ve finished. Why don’t you go check in the mirror to make sure I haven’t missed anything.”

Tanaka stood up from his chair to signal his assent and slowly made his way back into the bathroom, Ennoshita following closely behind. When he looked in the mirror, he turned his head to both sides so as to examine the job.

“You look good,” Ennoshita mentioned, before quickly regretting the decision to say anything. Tanaka took the compliment in stride, however.

For the first time in a while, Tanaka smiled. Widely.

“Thanks, Ennoshita.”

\---

Four totally different patients. Four totally different doctors.

Yet each was united by something, something that, when shared with our loved ones, is appreciated much more.

One instance was longing, a response to not wanting the other to leave. Another was jubilant, to demonstrate the joy and thankfulness that one felt in that moment. A third was playful, perhaps reckless, but still stemming from a love for the other person. A final instance was helpful, one person doing something to aid the other.

A languished grab of the wrist. An elated holding of hands. A kidding jab to the stomach. A hand resting on the shoulder.

Yes, both doctor and patient were united by something.

Touch.

In the face of overwhelming odds, a physical connection was certainly something they would need for the times ahead.

After all, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I am aware that this feels very ending-y, but it's not the end. Whoops for bad writing.
> 
> Hoowee, this was an odd chapter to write. I'm not sure what I was thinking. On a totally unrelated side note, I definitely jammed out to classical music while writing this chapter (if you're a classical buff and you haven't heard it before, try out Smetana's Ma vlast, especially the Moldau movement. agh, so prime xD).
> 
> Poor Yachi. I'm sure Daichi didn't mean to intimidate her. She's just very intimidate-able, for lack of a better term (or rather, for lack of me trying to find a better term). 
> 
> Anywho, I apologize again for my totally horrible update schedule, and I hope this was enough to tide you over for a bit. If I don't update in the next five days, have a great week! Well, have a great week either way, but I'll say it now just in case. 
> 
> And here's a pre-emptive 'ignore the chapter one notes below' notice!
> 
> ... Anywho.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It started in a way that was most unexpected. Not with a bang, but with a crackle. A crackle of electricity.
> 
> When the lights went out at the hospital, all hell broke loose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is unbeta'd and likely quite bad :(
> 
> You guys don't deserve such bad-quality writing, and I apologize deeply for my sloth. I needed to get this out tonight though, since it's been over a week and I'm out of town the next few days. Guh, I'm sorry.
> 
> The Ennotana and Kagehina are abnormally long, the Asanoya and Daisuga are abnormally short. Again, sorry :(
> 
> Welp, enjoy if you can. If you can't, I totally understand. And I apologize for probably mega bad grammar mistakes that I didn't catch because I didn't read through it. Aghhhh.

It started in a way that was most unexpected. Not with a bang, but with a crackle. A crackle of electricity.

When the lights went out at the hospital, all hell broke loose.

\---

Ennoshita was _not_ having a good day. For one, he was working triage again, as Tanaka was undergoing his pseudo-appendectomy (pseudo in the sense that they were removing whatever was left of his appendix). For another, he was working triage when the power went out.

As darkness enveloped the area, save for the select areas illumined by emergency lights, shrieks of terror rang out. Of course, this was to be expected. In fact, the hospital trained all its workers to be able to react to this very situation.

Then again, after having gone about ten minutes without the generator kicking in, Ennoshita knew they were in trouble. It became even more vital that the patients were sorted by need. With limited resources due to a lack of electricity, the most in need had to be tended to first.

But Ennoshita’s mind wasn’t focused on triage. It was focused on the man in the OR, who was likely having a very rough surgery without power.

He took a deep breath; the doctors were capable. He’d just have to trust them to do their job, just as they trusted him to do his job in triage.

It was curious, he found, that a blonde-haired spitfire of a woman showed up demanding to see her brother, then.

“I’m here to see Ryuu! You’ve got to let me back!”

_Ryuu? Is she related to Tanaka?_

“I’m sorry, but you can’t visit him while he’s in surgery!”

“He’s in surgery?! While the power’s out?!”

“It started before that happened; they have to go through with it now, I’m afraid.”

“Bullshit! Let me see Ryuu!”

Ennoshita walked up and placed a hand on the other doctor’s shoulder. “I’ll handle this.” The doctor nodded his thanks and continued triage work, Meanwhile, the woman remained livid. “I’m sorry ma’am, but Tanaka really can’t be visited right now.”

 The woman huffed. “Not even allowed to see my own brother…” she muttered. “Damn hospitals.” She turned to Ennoshita. “You know my brother, then?”

  _Know him? I’ve spent the last week tending to his sorry diarrhetic ass_.

 “I was his doctor up until his surgery today. But for now,” he started, motioning to the space around him, “I’m back working triage. Again.”

 She laughed heartily in response to Ennoshita’s discontent. When her laughter ceased, she extended a hand. “Tanaka Saeko. I’m the older sister of that punk you took care of.” Ennoshita shook her hand gladly before remembering his work.

 “I’ll let you know if anything develops, but for now, I really gotta focus on--”

 “Your job, I know,” Saeko said, shooing him away. “Get on with it!”

  _It’s no wonder they’re siblings_.

 He shook the thought from his head before searching for the most injured of the bunch, guided by the emergency lights overhead. Organizing, categorizing, assembling, Ennoshita worked efficiently, but still, his mind lingered on other things.

 Namely, Tanaka.

 It wasn’t as though he had any _feelings_ for the man. That would be ridiculous. And frankly, unprofessional. There was no need to feel a certain a way about how his back muscles showed when he bent over or how his nose twitched whenever he made a face.

 But Ennoshita certainly felt _something_ when Takeda rushed into the room, yelling out Ennoshita’s name. “Ennoshita! Where are you?!”

 Ennoshita quickly spotted the short doctor and ran over to him with his arm raised. “Takeda-san!” His shoes clapped against the cold tile, and Ennoshita wondered what sort of event would cause the other man to be so desperately searching for him.

 Suddenly, Takeda spotted him. “Ennoshita!” He waved an arm, motioning for Ennoshita to follow him. “Don’t fall behind. We need your help immediately, since we’re operating in the dark.”

  _Operating in the dark?! The emergency lights didn’t kick in?!_

 “Sir, how are you able to--”

 “See?” Takeda finished. “We’re using flashlights at the moment, but it’s not nearly enough to perform a clean surgery.” He grimaced as they continued to jog towards the operating room, careful not to run into any other doctors or patients.

  _Flashlights? That’s…_ “Impossible!” Ennoshita voiced, finishing his thought. “You can’t even hope to close him up if you can’t see where to suture…”

 “That’s what I tried to tell them…” Takeda muttered. “But the surgeon is insisting we have more hands in the OR.” Suddenly, Takeda stopped running.

 He looked around quickly, wondering who was in the vicinity. Without warning he took Ennoshita by the collar. “Alright, listen up. Screw helping out in the OR. I want you to find a better source of light.” His eyes were some sort of fierce, angry, but determined all the same.

 It was a side of Takeda that Ennoshita had never seen before.

 Takeda continued. “Look, if we can’t see in there, the consequences could be… dire.” He sniffed and pushed up his glasses. “And I know you care about him.” Ennoshita’s face reddened slightly, but he was too concerned to mind. “So get this done,” Takeda started, slapping him on the shoulder, “And save his life.”

 Ennoshita nodded forcefully and watched as Takeda ran back to the OR, his scrubs bouncing along behind him.

  _Where on earth am I gonna find a source of light that can allow them to perform the surgery…_

 Before he knew it, his legs were taking him back to the triage area, to where the wounded continued to lay sprawled out in corners, doctors performing first aid under the dim light of backup batteries. In the crowd, he spotted what he assumed his legs were searching for: an uninjured woman with a blonde bob and a rebellious spirit.

 “Saeko-san!”

 She looked up, surprised to see the doctor again so soon. Too soon perhaps, she realized, and her face turned grim. “My brother--”

 “I need your help to save him.” Ennoshita interrupted, staring Saeko in the eyes.

 ---

 When Hinata woke up from his nap and couldn’t see, he was concerned that he went blind. His hands flew to the side table where his phone was, desperate to see some sort of light.

 He let out a sigh of relief when the time flashed on the screen, along with a picture of Kageyama that he took without the grumpy doctor knowing. It made him snicker every time he unlocked his phone, and he had to be careful not to laugh in front of Kageyama. But it was worth it.

 Content with his eyesight, Hinata tucked himself in once again, swaddled with cloths that made him appear almost infantile. He inhaled, taking in the warm smell of the linen and sighing. For some reason, it had started to smell a little like Kageyama. He wasn’t sure why, but he wasn’t going to complain.

 Hinata closed his eyes and rolled onto his noninjured side, ready to fall asleep.

 Or perhaps, not so ready, as his bladder decided.

 “Seriously…?” Hinata groaned, clawing at his lower abdomen. Slowly, he shifted his body so that he could set his legs on the ground, aware of the way his tibia received pressure by standing up. Blindly, he reached out for his crutches, which sat at the wall across from him. He tipped himself closer to the wall, putting all his weight on his good leg.

 Unfortunately, the wall was farther from his bed than he realized.

 He began to fall forward, and so, instinctively, Hinata moved his other leg forward to catch himself. As he did, he heard a crack, and suddenly, his leg gave out, and he was the on the floor.

 The pain quickly shot up his leg and coursed through his spine. Once there, it radiated outward until it was all he could feel; it flood his torso and invaded his arms; it attacked his lungs until it felt like he couldn’t breathe; his brain felt ready to burst as he lay there, clutching his pained leg.

 He called out, his voice cracking. “Help! Someone help!”

  _Is this what it feels like to be old and fall down?_ Hinata wondered, painfully.

 “Please! Anybody!”

 His words went unanswered, though.

 Sniffling, he tried to reach up towards the bed, where the remote that let you call for a nurse sat, unperturbed by the incident. His arm and hand were fully outstretched, but the bed remained distant. Reaching further, more pain shot up his leg, and his arm darted back to hold the back of his calf.

 Tears slowly flowed down his cheeks, and he let out a long wail, desperate to be heard. It was then that his door flew open, crashing into the wall. Hinata could make out the traces of the dark figure that rushed in as well as the blue of his eyes.

 “K-Kageyama… It hurts…” he managed, arms still hanging onto his leg.

 “Just hang on, Shouyou. I’ll get you some painkillers very soon.” Kageyama consoled, swiftly picking up the man on the ground, careful not to move his leg.

  _Shouyou…? Did he just call me that?_

 Kageyama carefully placed him back on the bed before heading towards the door. “I’m getting painkillers and a gurney. Do _not_ move from that bed!” he yelled, gaining back a little of his fussy voice.

 “I won’t, idiot Tobio!” Hinata yelled back between sniffles, head raised to make sure the message got to him. Kageyama stumbled when he heard his given name, but kept going without making a comment.

  _He didn’t seem to mind that I called him Tobio… I wonder if…_

  _Stop it, idiot! Think about your leg before you think about Bakageyama!_

 Hinata stared at the ceiling and tried to focus on his breathing.

  _In, out._

  _Kageyama is my doctor, not my boyfriend._

  _In, out._

  _He called me Shouyou because he wasn’t sure if Natsu was in here too._

  _In, out._

  _His eyes aren’t pretty. They’re pretty ugly._

  _In, out._

  _In, out._

  _In, out._

 When Kageyama reentered the room to find Hinata breathing rapidly, he was more than slightly concerned. “Shouyou, what’s the matter?!”

 Hinata looked at him, seeing the concern in his eyes. “I was trying to focus on something other than my leg, so I picked breathing.” He looked down at his feet in the bed. “Sorry for worrying you…”

 Kageyama shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.” He walked over to the bedside and got down on his knees. “Alright, give me your hand so I can give you the painkillers.”

 “I think I’d take the leg pain over having to swallow pills,” Hinata muttered, scratching at his head.

 “Dumbass!” Kageyama yapped. “I… I got you the chewable ones…” Hinata couldn’t see Kageyama’s face, save for his cerulean eyes. He imagined, though, that the blue was being combatted by a coral hue that spread warmly across Kageyama’s face.

 “O-Oh,” Hinata stammered. Slowly, he reached his hand over to Kageyama, searching for his. His fingers finally found Kageyama’s, slowly gliding under to receive the pills. Kageyama opened his fist to let them drop, and then promptly placed both hands on top of Hinata’s.

  _Uh…_

 Hinata blushed furiously. “T-Tobio, what are you doing?”

 He felt the heat radiating from Kageyama’s face as the man struggled to come up with a response. “I-I was just making sure you didn’t lose the pills. You have them, r-right?”

 Hinata rolled the chalky tablets around in his hand. “Yeah, I’ve got them.” In one smooth motion, he moved his hand to his mouth and threw the pills in, eager to ingest their alleviating properties.

 “Alright, I’m gonna move you to the gurney now. Try to keep your leg still.”

 Suddenly, Hinata felt lighter as he was lifted by Kageyama once again.

  _He’s kinda strong…_

 “We’re going to x-ray your leg, and if it’s bad, we might be performing surgery to put a rod in. Is that okay?” Kageyama said, rolling the stretcher out of the room.

 “Y-Yeah,” Hinata responded, closing his eyes. “Thank you, Tobio…”

 “D-Dumbass! I’m your doctor… Just… It’s… No problem, Shouyou,” he finally managed.

 As the wheels of the gurney clattered against the hospital floor, Hinata was finally able to fall back asleep.

 ---

 Asahi was in Nishinoya’s room when the lights went out.

 “Aw man, and you were almost done with the scarf, too!” Nishinoya whined over the yelp that Asahi let out in fright.

 They were in the middle of a transfusion, so Asahi would have to manually turn the blood pump to keep Nishinoya’s blood from clotting. He got up from his chair and felt his way to the pump, careful not to pull out any tubes.

 “Can I keep talking to you, or do you need it to be quiet to focus?” Nishinoya asked innocently.

 “It’s alright, I can manage both,” Asahi said with a soft, wispy voice that penetrated the darkness.

 Nishinoya laughed to himself in his cot. “I guess this means the transplant will be delayed till we get the power back.”

 With his free hand, Asahi scratched the back of his hand and chuckled. “I suppose so. I’m not sure why that’s a laughing matter though…” His hand continued to crank the pump. “I mean, we’re talking about your life…”

 “A-saa-hiii, what did I tell you about being all glum and gloomy?” It was pitch black in the room, but Asahi could still see Nishinoya’s pout.

 He sheepishly tugged at his bun. “Not to do it…?” Asahi responded in question form.

 “That’s right, you big doofus!” Nishinoya confirmed, leaning forward to land a blind punch on Asahi’s right pectoral. The nurse let out a small whimper, massaging the now sore spot on his chest.

 Nishinoya paused before proffering a question. “So… does this marrow transplant pose any sort of threat to you, Asahi?”

 The nurse shook his head and massaged his steadily tiring crank arm. “Not at all. There’s no need for you to worry about my wellbeing, Noya-san.”

 Nishinoya shifted his legs in the bed and knotted his hands together. “Sorry for being a concerned human being, Asahi. And it’s just Noya…”

 Asahi smiled. “Sorry, Noya.”

 After about ten minutes of manual pumping passed, Asahi stopped cranking the machine. “I think you have all of your blood back at this point.”

 Nishinoya sighed in relief. “You’re the best, Asahi.”

 Asahi’s cheeks were quickly washed with a coral hue, and he once again tugged at his bun. “I’m your nurse, Noya. It’s my job…”

 “Mm, but you do it so well,” Nishinoya hummed in response. He scooted to the window side of the bed before patting the empty space beside him. “Lay down with me?”

 Asahi, quite flustered, raised his hands up in front of him. “I--uh, couldn’t possibly--besides, the tubing could be--”

 “I’m not getting a transfusion right now, am I? It doesn’t matter if the tubing gets pulled out. I’ll just have new tubing put in to replace it.” He patted the bed once more. “Please, Asahi?”

 Sighing, Asahi carefully moved into the bed with Nishinoya. “Only for a few minutes. There are other patients that need tending to…”

 “I saw your clipboard, Asahi. I know that I’m your only assigned patient right now, so don’t try and fool me!” Nishinoya commented.

 Asahi sighed again. “Now you’re looking through my stuff, Noya? Come on…”

 “I was just making sure you didn’t have any contraband! Nurses shouldn’t have stuff like that!” He turned on his side to face Asahi. “Luckily, you checked out all clean,” he finished, giving Asahi a wink.

  _This man will be the death of me_ , Asahi thought, blushing aggresively.

 “You caught me, I guess,” Asahi conceded. “How long do I have to stay here, then?”

 Nishinoya took time to come up with an answer, before smirking. “Mm, how about until the lights come back on?”

 “Noya, who knows when that’ll happen--”

 “You are my nurse; you’re just doing your job, Asahi!”

 The two of them lay facing each other, their heads close enough to feel the breath of the other person on their faces. Asahi let out a long breath that pushed the front tuft of Nishinoya’s hair upward. “Alright, I guess I’ll wait until then…”

 Nishinoya smiled and curled himself further into the blankets before closing his eyes. “Thank you, Asahi.”

 Asahi hummed in reply.

 And the two of them fell asleep, tangled in tubes and arms and sheets.

 ---

 Daichi was very quickly learning that trying to get an anorexic to eat food while the power was out was a difficult task.

 “Suga, I know it’s hard, but please, can you try and get just a few more bites down?”

 The man in bed shook his head, his silver hair reflecting what little light was present in the room. “Daichi, I can’t, it’s just too much food…”

 Daichi stood tall and tried to think up some innovative solutions. “W-Would it help if I sat by you as you ate it?”

 “Of course not, you dolt!” Suga retorted. “I _feel_ full, Dai. There’s nothing you can do about me _feeling_ full, despite me not actually _being_ full.”

 Taking a long breath, Daichi sighed. “Sug, you can’t listen to your body in this situation. What it’s telling you is wrong.”

 Suga sat up sharply in his bed. “You think I don’t know that?! You think I haven’t spent years trying to tell myself I’m not actually full, attempting to eat again, and then throwing everything back up?”

 “Suga, I didn’t mean to--”

 “Yeah, I get it Daichi, just--please, stop talking for a little bit.”

 Daichi’s face softened and he stepped back. “Sorry. I’ll just, uh, use the restroom real quick.”

 Suga sighed into his pillow. “Thank you.”

 With that, Daichi stepped into the bathroom and shut the door. “You’re such an idiot, Daichi,” he mumbled to himself, burying his face in his hands.

 He quickly sought out the toilet so he could sit down. It was curiously easy to find, almost as though he could see by smell alone, the rotten scent of the toilet and the chemical odor of the clean sink guiding him.

 Daichi took a seat and began to think of what he’d say to Suga when he left the restroom.

  _Sorry I was being such an ass, Suga. I do that a lot._

 Daichi shook his head. _Maybe not that_.

  _It’s not you, it’s me. I’m never full, so it’s weird to me._

 He groaned. _That’s just plain insensitive._

  _Whatever. I’ll just apologize to him and try and get him to eat little bites at a time_. Content with that decision, Daichi stood up and headed for the door. It creaked open, its cry permeating the darkness.

 “Suga…?” Daichi intoned. “Listen, I’ve gotta apologize for being such an ass just a few minutes ago.” He put a hand to the back of his hand before continuing. “I was just being inconsiderate of how much it might actually pain you to eat the food. If you’d like, we could wait a little bit and try again later.”

 The man in bed didn’t respond. Daichi pressed further, trying to coax a reply. “Is that alright?”

 He was only met with more silence, however.

 “Alright, now come on, Sug. I came out here to apologize, and now you’re just gonna give me the silent treatment?” Daichi shook his head and chuckled. “How is that in any way fair?”

 But the man in bed didn’t find what Daichi was saying humorous, not letting out an iota of mirth.

“Suga, come on, you’re being ridiculous.”

Daichi walked up to the bed to place a hand on Suga’s shoulder. When he put his hand down, however, it was met only with air.

“Suga?”

Suddenly, Daichi was rapidly checking the bed for any semblance of a body. When he found nothing, he fell back against the wall and placed a hand on his forehead.

The man in the bed was being silent because there was no man in the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, it was gonna be bad stuff happening to everyone and then I was like, "eh, noya already died he gets a break me thinks."
> 
> Yeah, I don't write angst and it probably shows.
> 
> Sigh. Hope you enjoyed? (question mark)
> 
> Classical recommendation of the chapter: Mendelssohn String Octet. Because why not. Anywho.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'm not really sure what happened here, but this ended up being a 6000 word chapter? Whoops. 
> 
> On a different note, next chapter will be the last! I'm gonna miss my little hospital AU, but I appreciate all of you for sticking with me!
> 
> That said, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> EDIT: AGH I'm an idiot. There is some surgery in the ennotana section involving minute amounts of blood. If that sort of thing bothers you, ctrl+f from "Let's get it done!" to A collective sigh of relief. Sorry for forgetting about this!!!

Daichi currently knew three things.

One, he was an idiot.

He’d been played by Suga, not once, but twice. _Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,_ Daichi recalls his grandma saying in the past. He decides not to count all the times that Suga’s managed to play his heart.

Two, Suga was missing.

Now, normally, if a patient were missing, each floor’s desk would be notified of the patient. Said notification would include a detailed description of the patient, his or her ailment, and a picture. The patients would usually be found soon after the notice was made.

Of course, the power was out right now, and that information would be impossible to circulate around the hospital, let alone be visible in the harsh darkness. It was nighttime, after all. There was no natural light to be seen--any moonlight was blocked by the pollutive haze of the city of Tokyo.

Three, once he found Suga (and he assured himself, he would), he would ask him on a date.

The longer Daichi thought about it, the more he realized perhaps there were only two things he knew. A third was questionable.

He ran out of the room, headed directly to the desk he prayed either Kiyoko or Yachi was sitting at. His shoes clung to the corners where the wall met the floor, running in a place where he was least likely to collide with someone in the immense blackness that engulfed the halls.

But, being Daichi, he did run into someone, much like how he ran into Suga his first day on the psych floor.

The person let out a soft yelp as they fell back onto the floor. A yelp, Daichi decided, that was quite familiar…

“Yachi?!”

Daichi quickly bent over and gave her hand. She took it and cautiously stood up, wiping the dirt off her pants once fully upright. “Sawamura-san!”

“Sorry about that…” Daichi muttered while averting his unseeable gaze. “And it’s Daichi, remember?”

Yachi rapidly moved her arms back and forth in front of the rest of her body. “No no no no, it's my fault we collided.” She added on a soft ‘Daichi’ at the end of her sentence.

Daichi clicked his tongue, about to walk off before realizing that their collision, while physically unfortunate, was still situationally opportune. “Yachi! Have you seen Suga anywhere?”

“I haven't really _seen_ anything, Daichi…”

“Sorry, poor choice of words.” He looked down as he rubbed the back of his neck. It wasn’t really in his nature to be nervous like this, but it was happening anyway. “What I mean to say is, S-Suga is missing.”

“M-Missing?!” Yachi responded.

_Right. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to talk to Yachi about it._

The nurse started to shake, her legs trembling before Daichi placed a hand on her shoulders. He bent down so that he was at a similar height to Yachi before softly saying, “Hey, it’s gonna be alright. We’ll find him.”

He was telling this to her as much as he was telling it to himself, but what she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her. Yachi nodded her head fiercely.

“Let’s come up with a plan of action, okay?” Daichi looked around as his mind tried to think something up. “I doubt many other staff members are free to help right now… So at best, we need to split up and search each floor.”

“Search each floor? Surely you don’t mean that, do you Daichi?” a voice sounded from the darkness. Slowly, a figure emerged from the shadows and stood next to Yachi. “You know Suga better than that.”

“Kiyoko,” Daichi breathed out. Truthfully, he was very glad to see the woman, as far as seeing could go in situations like these. Her long-time experience and general wisdom was admirable and certainly useful in times like these. 

“Daichi,” she echoed, seemingly giving him a reprimanding look. “You know Suga better than this. He hasn’t taken the stairs for the entire time he’s been at this hospital, and--”

“The elevators aren’t working.” Daichi finished.

Kiyoko nodded. “Precisely. So why would you have to split up and search every other floor?”

Daichi slapped a hand to his face and groaned. “I’m an idiot.”

Yachi gave him a consoling look. “It’s alright, Daichi. Kiyoko makes everyone feel pretty stupid every once in awhile.”

The mentioned woman looked shocked, before developing a blush of her own. “A-Anyways,” she stammered, “We’ll have to scour this floor in order to find him.” Regaining her composure, she continued. “We’ll start with the halls, and then progress to open areas: offices, bathrooms, meeting rooms, and the like. Our final option would be to check other patients’ rooms, but I doubt he’d be in one of those anyway.”

Daichi’s eyes shined with determination. “Let’s do it, then.”

“Okay, break!” Yachi yelled, raising her arm to the air. That earned her two very confused looks from her coworkers. “U-Uh, I just thought it’d be something cool to do right there.”

Kiyoko patted her on the shoulder. “Let’s just start searching, yeah Chi?”

Now it was Yachi’s turn to turn a deep shade of red, her blush forming the moment Kiyoko touched her. “O-Okay!” she replied with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm.

They split up in opposite directions, Yachi and Kiyoko travelling in the direction Daichi just came from, and Daichi doing the antipode. Trying to learn from his mistakes, he paced himself at a speedwalk as opposed to a run, but he still clung to the walls.

Every now and then, he’d yell out Suga’s name in the hopes that the man would respond, but he never did. Daichi didn’t lose hope, though. The three of them had spent about ten minutes searching the halls before he received a page from Kiyoko saying that he likely was in one the areas that she had previously deemed “common,” and that he should stop searching the halls.

Daichi immediately bolted for the bathroom, hoping that he’d find Suga hidden in one of the stalls. “Suga?” he called out into the dark space, his voice echoing off the tile. He peered his head under the first stall door, only to be met with a shoe to the face and harsh criticism about how “people shouldn’t stick their heads under stall doors.”

This, however, caused a small giggle to sound from the adjacent stall. The giggle was quickly muffled, but Daichi could recognize Suga’s childish laughs from a mile of stalls away. 

He knocked lightly on the door. “Sug? Could I come in?”

“Go away, Daichi.”

“Please, I just want to talk.”

There was a moment of silence, before it was ended by the sound of a lock sliding. The door creaked open and Daichi saw Suga, who was sitting scrunched up in the corner of the stall.

“Pathetic, right? That’s probably what you’re thinking.” Suga muttered, his eyes trained on the floor in front of him.

“Suga, I would never think that about you.” Daichi paused and looked right at Suga before continuing. “You’re one of the strongest people I know.”

It was clear Suga had been crying; even in the darkness Daichi could see the glimmer that his tear-stained cheeks reflected. He scooted closer to the man and was now sitting about a foot away. “Look, I’ve been inconsiderate, I know. I’ve been horrible to you, not understanding at _all_ \--”

“Dai--”

“Sug, please, let me finish.” The silver-haired man stopped. “The pain that you go through… It must truly be unbearable.” Daichi looked up at the ceiling and let out a sigh. “That’s why I’ve decided to shift my medical focus to research. I _will_ cure your leptin sensitivity and get you back to your normal life. That’s a promise.”

Suga looked up from the ground and stared at Daichi, his eyes longing and his mouth opening slightly. “It won’t happen right away, of course. That’s why I have to ask you one more giant favor. To be strong, just for a little longer.” Daichi looked Suga in the eye. “Can you do that for me, Sug?”

He looked about ready to burst into tears, as his eyes twinkled against the darkness. But slowly, Suga’s face revealed a smile. He leaned over and wrapped Daichi in his arms and sobbed against his shoulders. “Of course I can do that, Dai.”

Daichi let out a long sigh and returned the embrace. Suga was cold, yet warm against his skin. It was a feeling that Daichi knew he would grow to love. 

That was assuming that he’d be able to experience again, though.

Suga was now resting against Daichi, his head on the doctor’s shoulders. After many minutes of hesitation, Daichi began, “Suga?”

Suga hummed in response.

“I’ve, uh, been meaning to ask this for a while, but, I haven’t really known how to…” Daichi scratched the back of his head. He was suddenly feeling very warm.

“Yes?” Suga cooed, wiping some of the tears from his eyes. 

“W-Well,” Daichi stammered, “I was just wondering if…. You’d maybe, like to go out some time with me?”

“Dai, you know I’m not allowed to leave the hospital,” Suga teased, nuzzling himself into Daichi’s neck.

“I-I know that!” Daichi retorted, his face growing warm. 

Suga laughed a full laugh. “Jeez, I didn’t mean to get you _this_ flustered.” He sighed against Daichi. “How about you take me on a date here in the hospital?”

“Here?” Daichi replied incredulously. “Sug, the only place to eat in this hospital is the food co--”

Suga put a finger to Daichi’s lips to quiet him. “How does Friday sound? The food court?”

Daichi shuddered at Suga’s touch. He smiled at Suga before giving his response.

“That sounds wonderful.”

\---

“You’re saying I have to put it right here?!” Saeko exclaimed.

Ennoshita was finishing up placing down the reflective triangles and cones. “Yes, right here should do the trick.”

Saeko still seemed doubtful, but she shook her head. “Whatever you say, I guess. If it can help out Ryuu, then I’ll gladly do it.” With that, she ran off into the night.

It was still dark outside, despite the moon being full. Its light was blocked by the smog that perpetually surrounded the city. Ennoshita sighed and prayed that his plan would work before turning tail and running back inside the hospital.

The building managed to cloak Ennoshita in an even harsher cloud of darkness than the night outside did. It reeked of it. Unperturbed, however, Ennoshita attempted to navigate his way back to the operating room. 

When he finally reached it, he burst open the door, quickly apologizing for the intrusion and taking his place by Takeda.

“I thought I told you to find me a source of light!” Takeda reprimanded, albeit at a soft enough volume that the other doctors couldn’t hear.

“It’s coming,” Ennoshita assured him in a hushed tone.

_I hope_.

Ennoshita shook the dark thought from his head and looked down at the man in front of him, or at least what he could make out in the dark. “What can I do for now?” he asked Takeda.

“Not much,” another woman replied; perhaps she was the one in charge. “We’ve already removed all of what was left of his appendix. We’re just trying to staunch the blood flow until we can safely close him up. The appendectomy was open instead of laparoscopic since we weren’t sure of where his appendix had spread into. That’s why we need to get the incision closed as soon as possible--it’s much larger than we thought it was going to have to be.”

Ennoshita nodded and walked over to the window to open up the curtains.

“It’s no good,” Takeda stated. “We already tried and didn’t get enough light to do anything.” He scratched the back of his head and sighed.

“Just… Trust me, alright? I have a plan.”

_Come on, Saeko. Ryuu’s life… It’s in your hands at this point._

“We’d need a miracle at this point,” the head doctor muttered, shaking her head and looking at Tanaka.

Ennoshita did the same, looking down at the man’s face. Even under anesthesia, he still maintained his grumpy expression. It took all his effort to not break out into a fit of giggles, but he managed to stifle them with a discreetly placed cough to his side.

They were suddenly interrupted by the revving of an engine and the screeching of tires, just outside the window. As the sounds got louder, the room seemed to get brighter, and before they knew it, a car was parked outside the window, its lights shining into the dark room. In the driver’s seat sat a woman, with her hair sticking up from running and a determined look on her face. 

Saeko honked twice and Ennoshita smiled.

“What the hell?!” the head doctor said, her mouth wide as she observed the sudden turn of events. 

Ennoshita took a step towards the window and gestured for them to calm down. “Takeda, you told me to find a source of light.” Takeda nodded. “Well,” Ennoshita started, “this is my solution. I placed reflective triangles around where she parked, so we shouldn’t have to worry about any accidents occurring.”

Takeda stood, his mouth as wide as the head doctor, but with a smile slowly overtaking his aghast mien. He let his head fall before clapping to break everyone out of their trances. “Alright everyone, this is enough light to finish up here. Let’s get it done!”

The head doctor nodded her agreement. “We’re going to suture the incision now. Takeda, have your student put the endo bag somewhere where it won’t bother us.”

Takeda nodded his agreement. “Ennoshita, this bag has what remains of his appendix in it. We can’t let it just be thrown away. There’s a separate medical waste we use for organs--separate, that is, from normal needles and tubing and what not.”

“Got it. I’ll leave it in a separate impervious bag in this corner,” Ennoshita replied. Takeda gave a short grunt of approval while preparing to close the wound. 

Once again, the head doctor spoke. “We have to appose the tissue layers as close together as possible. We don’t want new tissue forming underneath the wound.” She seemed content with her directions before hastily adding in, “But not too tight! We don’t want to strangle the tissue.”

Ennoshita looked on from outside the ring of surgeons, desperate to get a look at what was going on. Takeda leaned over the patient, sutures in hand, ready to stitch up Tanaka. 

The incision was around four centimeters long, longer than most open appendectomies. Delicately, Takeda began to connect the two sides of Tanaka’s abdomen, stitching them together. As he did so, blood began to spurt from the bottom part of the cut. It bubbled slowly at first, before bursting out in rhythm with his heartbeat.

“I need suction!” Takeda yelled to his coworkers, not looking up from his job. Quickly, another doctor moved in with a tube that vacuumed up the blood, stopping the flow of blood. Another suture was added, and Takeda continued along the incision.

Meanwhile, Ennoshita continued to look on. He was unaware that he was running his gloved hand along the back of his neck--an extremely poor practice if this were a normal operating procedure, as it could lead to all kinds of contamination.

Then again, this wasn’t a normal operating procedure. This was evidenced by the fact that the patient’s older sister was sitting outside the window with her car, shining her low beams through the glass.

Takeda tied another knot on the same side of the incision, more than halfway done now. He paused only to wipe the sweat that began to creep from his brow. “Alright, we can stop the suction now. I’ll be stitching that area soon.”

He stuck the needle back under Tanaka’s skin, careful to pull the silk through without damaging any of the subcutaneous tissue. Ennoshita cringed, but continued to watch. He’d closed wounds many times before, but to see someone he’s gotten to know quite well undergo surgery is a different experience entirely.

It was one he hoped he wouldn’t have to experience again any time soon.

“Great thinking with using an outside source of light, Ennoshita,” Tanaka intoned, despite not stopping his work. The other doctors murmured their agreement, causing Ennoshita to blush, though he wasn’t in danger of having anyone see it. They were all focused on the task at hand. 

“We’re almost there…” the head doctor said softly, her eyes set on the careful work of Takeda. “One more suture should do it, Takeda.”

Takeda hummed in agreement and stuck the needle back through Tanaka’s abdomen one last time, pulling the string through with a sense of finality. He tied the last knot and then stepped back, looking over his work.

From what Ennoshita could see, the place where the incision once was looked rather clean. Each suture was placed evenly apart, so that new tissue could grow back just as easily. In addition, the skin didn’t look like it was being pinched, so the stitches must’ve been only tight enough to hold the tissue together. All in all, an expertly well done job by Takeda, as far as Ennoshita was concerned.

He applied light pressure to a few areas around the stitching to test for any leakage. When no blood rose through the wound, he smiled. “It looks like we’re done here. Great work everyone!”

A collective sigh of relief rose into the air as opposed to cheers of excitement. Ennoshita let out a long breath before moving back to the window. When he was sure Saeko could see him, he gave her a thumbs-up, and the woman jumped with joy in her seat. Ennoshita was pretty sure she bonked her head on the roof of her car, but he couldn’t blame her for her elation.

After all, he probably loved Tanaka Ryuunosuke just as much as Saeko did, if not more.

\---

When Hinata woke up, he was no longer on the stretcher, but laying down in his own bed again.

The thing that he most immediately picked up on was the fact that the lights were back on; the power must’ve been restored while he was asleep. 

Hinata looked down at his legs in the bed, noticing how the injured one was elevated, suspended by some cleverly tied ACE bandages. He wondered who had done that, but a cough sounding from his side interrupted him, letting him know that he wasn’t alone in the room. 

He turned over to see Kageyama sitting in the chair next to his bed.

_How long has he been sitting there?!_

“K-Kageyama!”

The dark haired man looked up from his phone to recognize Hinata. “Oh. You’re finally up.”

He stood up and stretched, cracking most nearly every bone in his back. Breathing in deeply, he walked over to where Hinata’s leg was suspended. “It’s probably not necessary to say, but you certainly did some damage to your bone last night.”

Hinata gulped. “Yeah, I kinda figured…”

Kageyama flipped a switch and suddenly the screen opposite Hinata’s bed lit up with two x-rays. “Now on the left,” he started, “we have your tibia x-ray image from _before_ yesterday. And on the right… is after.”

“But aren’t there two bones on the second picture?” Hinata said in a question-like manner.

“Exactly,” Kageyama deadpanned.

_Oh._

“What you’ve experienced is a displaced tibial shaft fracture--your tibia split and the broken ends aren’t lined up. While you can recover completely from this, it will require surgery.”

Hinata was never really fond of hospitals, much less the tools in hospitals that can be used to open you up and mess with your insides. And so the thought of undergoing surgery, even surgery of the leg, was practically unbearable.

“And what happens if I choose not to have surgery…?” Hinata asked warily.

Kageyama grimaced. “Well, there’s no guarantee your tibia will fuse back together without some sort of guidance. If that’s the case, then you’ll never play volleyball again.”

Hinata was about ready to cry. “I don’t suppose there’s a third option, is there?”

His doctor sighed. “Look, you’ll be asleep for the surgery. It’s not the end of the world,” Kageyama mumbled, reading the orange-haired man’s mind. “We would insert a rod that joins the two parts of your tibia back together.”

Hinata shot off a whole barrage of questions at once. “And this surgery is a sure thing? If I have it done, I’ll be able to play volleyball again once I’ve recovered? No pain?”

“The surgery will definitely get your tibia back in place. But you won’t be without pain. In fact, using your leg could be quite painful.” Kageyama paused, looking down at his clipboard. “But I could probably prescribe you some painkillers that make it practically painless to use, especially when playing volleyball.”

“Tobio, you would do that for me?!” Hinata mused, his eyes twinkling. 

Kageyama was taken aback by the use of his first name, as he was before. “I-I’m your doctor!” he stammered. “Of course I would do that!”

Hinata hummed contentedly. “Thank you, Tobio.”

“I-It’s nothing, Shouyou.”

_Tobio… Keep calling me Shouyou, please._

“So I assume this means you want to go through with the surgery?” Kageyama said quietly. He tapped his foot impatiently, as though he were the one that was getting the procedure done, and that he wanted it done as soon as possible.

Hinata sat up in his cot and smiled. “Yep! How soon can we get it done?”

“Dumbass, the surgery has to be done immediately!” Hinata shrunk back into his bed. Kageyama coughed to clear his throat. “Sorry. We have to get the rod inserted sooner rather than later to foster bone fusion in the right places.”

“I’m don’t know what any of that means, idiot!” Hinata retorted. He paused to sheepishly rub the back of his neck. “But I suppose what you’re saying makes sense…”

“Of course it does, Shouyou…” Kageyama shook his head. “So are you ready?”

Hinata nodded and Kageyama left to get a wheelchair.

Left alone, Hinata sighed. But it wasn’t an exhausted sigh. Rather, it was a sigh of complacency. They were once again addressing each other by their given names, that much Hinata was happy about.

_But does that mean anything?_ Hinata wondered. _Or is Tobio just a really weird doctor that calls all his patients by their given names?_

He shuddered at the thought. But he was relatively sure that Kageyama didn’t do that. It was probably against hospital policy to be that creepy. 

It was probably against hospital policy for him to even smile at his patients. That would render them catatonic. And then they would no longer belong on the orthopedic floor, but the psychiatric one.

Hinata was roused from his thoughts by the clattering of wheels along the tile floor as Kageyama returned with the wheelchair. He slowed to a stop when the wheelchair was beside Hinata’s bed. Leaning down, Kageyama adjusted the foot rest so that it allowed Hinata to have his leg laid out.

He stood back up and wiped his hands on his coat. “Alright, I’m gonna have to lift you into the chair. Is that alright?”

_Of course it’s alright, idiot! Why are you even asking?_

That thought translated verbally to “Y-Yeah.”

“Alright, keep your leg as straight as possible when I’m moving you.”

Slowly, Kageyama approached the bed. Hinata was nearly shaking, both excited and unnerved because _Kageyama Tobio was about to pick him up._

Kageyama seemed to be equally anxious, however, a light dusting of red covering his cheeks as he stretched his arms out. He maneuvered his right arm first, snaking it under his back and lifting up slightly. His left arm was more cautious, inching its way under his legs delicately. 

Too delicately, Hinata decided, since the underside of his legs was quite ticklish.

“T-Tobio,” he blathered, before giggling. 

The other man, careful not to make any sudden movements, answered without looking at Hinata. “W-What?”

“N-Nothing, just h-hurr--ahaha--hurry up!” Hinata blushed and looked down at his sheets. “I’m a little ticklish there…”

If Kageyama was embarrassed before, he was certainly flustered now. Hinata could tell by the fact that his legs and back were quickly getting warmer. Which did not help the current tickle situation.

“Ahaha--T-Tobio! Hurry!”

“I’m going as fast as I can without hurting you, dumbass!”

In a swift, yet slow motion, Kageyama turned and deposited the man in his arms into the chair, making sure his injured leg stayed elevated. “There,” he breathed. “No more unintentional tickling. I’m gonna go ahead and wheel you to the OR now. Are you ready, Shouyou?”

Hinata nodded, but his hands were trembling against the armrest of the chair.

Kageyama took notice of this and hesitated before grabbing one of Hinata’s hands with both of his. “Hey, it’s alright. It’s just surgery.”

“Yeah, j-just surgery…” Hinata echoed, although his voice seemed to disagree. 

“Relax, Shouyou. My sister got the same exact surgery about five years ago,” Kageyama reassured him.

Hinata’s eyes lit up. “Really? And she was just fine?”

“She was just fine.” Kageyama repeated, smiling just the slightest amount.

Hinata sighed and sat back in his chair, closing his eyes. “I’m ready, Tobio. Wheel me away.”

Kageyama consented, and the wheels once again clattered against the tile floor. Occasionally they’d bump over the metal casing that stopped doors, but other than that, it was a smooth ride.

“Hey, Tobio?” Hinata murmured.

“Hm?” Kageyama responded.

“When all of this is said and done…” he started, looking to the side. “And I know it will take a while to heal… But, when it’s over, would you… maybe… want to go to a game of mine?”

There was a long bout of silence before Kageyama finally decided to let out a soft “Dumbass.”

“I thought I was already invited to them when you started to call me Tobio,” he grumbled.

Hinata opened his mouth in protest, a frown and furrowed brows quickly forming on his face. “You called me Shouyou first!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

They couldn’t settle the argument by the time that they got to the operating room, but Hinata knew he was right. But he wasn’t worried about who was right and who was wrong. Heck, Hinata wasn’t worried at all.

He had a great doctor, and, at least from his point of view, a great _boyfriend._

He wasn’t sure if Kageyama considered himself as his boyfriend. But he would make sure that once he woke up from his anesthesia, Kageyama would know. He would shout it from the hospital rooftop if he had to. But he had a better idea of how to make him know, as well as all of his coworkers.

When Hinata woke up from his anesthesia, the first thing he did was plant a kiss on Kageyama’s unsuspecting lips, whose eyes quickly grew wide before softening as he returned the favor.

\---

“And you’re sure that there’s no risks involved for Asahi?”

Nishinoya continued to pester Dr. Furudate, despite the man’s insistence that Asahi would be perfectly fine throughout the entire procedure.

“Nishinoya-kun, I’ve been doing this for over forty years,” Dr. Furudate started in an exasperated tone. “When I tell you that Asahi will be in no danger, you can take it to the bank.”

Asahi was leaning against the wall in Nishinoya’s room, staring longingly at the man in bed. “Noya, this is my decision anyway. Even if it _were_ dangerous--which it’s not--I would still do it,”

Nishinoya crinkled his nose and crossed his arms in front of him. “It’s my decision too, you know,” he grumbled. Asahi smiled pleadingly at Nishinoya before he finally caved in. “Alright, alright! Let’s get it over with.”

Furudate seemed pleased. “Would you like to use a wheelchair to get to the transplant center?”

“No, I’ll be able to walk just fine on my own,” Nishinoya replied, grabbing the side of the bed to push himself out. Asahi attempted to steady him, but Nishinoya pushed his arm away. “Uh uh, Asahi. I’ve got this.”

He took one step before his leg gave out, and Asahi moved swiftly to catch him. “Noya, come on. You can do better than that,” he teased, pulling him back up.

“Hush, Asahi.”

They both laughed, and Asahi offered Nishinoya his arm to put his weight on, which Nishinoya grudgingly accepted. The two of them left the room like that, Asahi bending down so that Nishinoya could reach his arm and pull on it for support.

For once, Asahi was the first to break the silence. “So Noya… What do you think you’ll do once you’re finally able to leave the hospital?”

Nishinoya seemed to take the question very seriously, even taking one of his hands off of Asahi’s arm to scratch his head in thought. Asahi braced the man’s side accordingly. “I suppose I could do something crazy like climb Mt. Fuji.” 

“Uh, Noya, I wouldn’t advise that you--”

“But only if you climbed it with me!” Nishinoya interrupted, yanking on Asahi’s arm a little.

Asahi faltered in his steps for a moment and blinked several times before it sank in. “Y-You want me to climb Mt. Fuji with you?” he stuttered.

“Duh! Who else would I want to climb Mt. Fuji with me, silly?” nearly pulling Asahi along, despite being supported by him. “So are you in or not?”

Asahi stared at the dynamo beside him, his lips slowly curling upward. “Well, I wouldn’t let you do it for at least a few months…” He was fully smiling now as he faced the hall ahead of him. “But I guess I could hike it with you after that.”

“A-sa-hiiiii,” Nishinoya whined, “what are we going to do during those few months then?”

_We?!_

“W-We?”

Nishinoya simpered at the flustered nurse. “Asahi, if you haven’t caught that I’ve been flirting with you all this time, we’re gonna have to have a talk in the operating room.”

Asahi’s face was quickly growing red, and he hoped that he wouldn’t sweat onto Nishinoya’s hands. “U-Uh, I mean, I’ve noticed, I think…” he managed to sputter.

The small man grinned and got on his toes to flick Asahi in the nose, who jumped in response. “Doofus.”

With his free hand, Asahi tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, which he noticed was getting warmer by the minute. “L-Let’s just keep walking.”

Asahi found it curious. Curious that the man he’d been treating and crushing on for over a year now was so casual about their relationship. All their little quips and quibbles, their teasing and talking, leading to this?

_It can’t be this easy to fall in love, can it?_

But proof of it was standing right next to him, gripping his arm with both hands as he nearly skipped to his surgery. And perhaps that was enough for Nishinoya. It was enough for Asahi, after all.

They arrived at the transplant center to a coterie of surgeons, all prepped and ready to go. Asahi and Nishinoya were lead into separate rooms for surgery prep, but they’d be nearly side-by-side during the actual procedure. Nishinoya gave Asahi a hearty pat on the back before being led into a different room, just as Asahi was led.

The door to Asahi’s room slid shut with a resounding hiss, locking tightly so that no outside contaminants could breach the inside.

A man in a pair of green scrubs with rounded glasses looked down at his clipboard. “Alright, let’s get this over with, shall we? I’m gonna need to confirm a few things before we actually get ready.”

Asahi nodded and gulped. He wasn’t sure why he was nervous--the procedure was relatively safe after all. But maybe it had to do with the fact that this procedure was so important for Nishinoya.

And consequently, Asahi.

“Name?”

“Azumane Asahi.”

“Date of birth?”

“January 1st.”

The questions continued like that; simple, unrefined, identifying questions that let the doctor know that Asahi was who he said he was. Asahi zoned out very quickly after the first few questions, mindlessly answering the things that had been ingrained in his mind after years of working in a hospital.

The doctor stood up from his chair and walked over to a cabinet, pulling out a blue hospital gown. He handed it to Asahi. “I’m gonna need you to put this on and then enter through that door,” he said, pointing in the direction of the door opposite the one he came in.

Asahi nodded his assent and began to undress when the surgeon left. 

_I wonder what Noya will look like in the gown…_

He quickly shut his eyes and groaned.

_Asahi, what the hell are you thinking?_

Tying the string around his waist, he walked over to the door, and without hesitation, opened it. Inside the operating room was an organized disarray of equipment, surgeons, and lights. But the lights were dim, in an almost calming way. 

“Azumane Asahi?”

He looked up from his trance to see a female surgeon staring at him. She smiled. “You’ll be on this one here,” she said, patting the table next to her. Asahi smiled back and laid himself down on the table, back-side up. They would be taking the stem cells from his back hip bones, so he’d have to lay on his stomach.

From the side, he heard the beginning of an argument that was quickly augmented as the door slid open. “I can walk on my own, thank you very much!” Nishinoya berated the doctor trying to help him.

Nishinoya locked eyes with Asahi before grinning. “Looking good, Asahi!” He himself was not wearing a gown, since all he was doing was receiving Asahi’s stem cells intravenously. Asahi blushed and with a huff, he told Nishinoya to get on his table. He jumped on eagerly and laid on his side to stare at his nurse.

Finally, Dr. Furudate arrived, clothed in green and a mask, but his smile still evident through the paper. “Now typically Nishinoya wouldn’t have to undergo general anesthesia for this procedure, but seeing as we’re doing it all in one go, we’re going to put him under as well.” 

“Plus, they don’t want you messing up my surgery,” Asahi added snidely.

“Hey, no fair!” Nishinoya responded.

“You’ll each be out for a few hours, and when you wake up, you’ll be in our special bone marrow transplant unit. It’s designed to limit your chance of getting an infection,” Furudate continued. He pointed at Asahi, who was looking over his shoulder at the man. “Especially you, Azumane-kun, since your procedure is more invasive.”

“Invasive?” Nishinoya squeaked, his concern for Asahi evident.

Asahi reached out a hand to grab Nishinoya’s hanging one. Giving it a squeeze, he assured him, “I’ll be fine, Yuu.” 

Furudate smiled at the pair before nodding to the anesthesiologist to begin his work. He swiftly strapped a mask onto both of them that released laughing gas. This was going to numb both of them enough for the IV which would actually put them to sleep.

Its effects quickly took hold of both Asahi and Nishinoya, Nishinoya seeming to be more prone to them. “Assssss-ahiiii,” he slurred, “when are they gonna put the needle in?”

Asahi smiled. “Yuu, they already did put the needle in.”

Nishinoya looked to his arm before falling prey to hysterical laughter. “Welllll, how about that?” he managed in between the weak laughs.

“Switching from gas to propofol,” the anesthesiologist said.

“Got it,” Furudate answered. “Removing the masks now.”

With what little energy he had left, Nishinoya looked over at Asahi’s face. “Ha, youuuu have red marks from where the massssk was. It looooks like you have whiskers,” he giggled.

Asahi chuckled too, unable to move his head to look back at Nishinoya.

As far as he was aware, they kept holding hands until he was out cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the bone marrow transplant process would actually take around a week, considering how much blood Asahi would lose. And Ennoshita just walking into the OR? Highly unsanitary and dangerous. But ehhhh this is fiction.
> 
> I'm excited to finally wrap this up, but at the same time I dun want them to leave the hospital. Sadistic, right? And I'm not even a fan of angst. What's happening.
> 
> Classical music suggestion of the update: Chopin's Scherzo no. 3, op. 39 for piano. A very emotional, yet sophisticated and highly demanding piece. Guh I could gush about Chopin all day. But I won't because that's weird.
> 
> I hope you all have a fantastic week, and as always, ignore the chapter one notes below ;)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read, look, fanart!!!!
> 
>   [Click here to see hospital asanoya in all of its fluffiness, courtesy of akishimes](http://akishimes.tumblr.com/post/146984498279/knit-me-a-scarf-asahi-a-not-quick-but)
> 
> Thank you so much!!!
> 
> I hope this final chapter leaves y'all with a sense of contentedness!

_Everything that can go right, will go right._

Asahi was relatively sure of that at this point. The odds of being a bone marrow donor for simply _anyone_ on the registry was about 1 in 430. And so the likelihood that Asahi would be the perfect match for Nishinoya was extremely unlikely.

But he was. And so, as a result, Asahi and Nishinoya were now 3700 meters above sea level, very near the summit of Mt. Fuji. They had started the hike the night before in order to reach the summit before sunrise. Surprisingly, Furudate was actually the one that recommended the night hike. He himself had done it multiple times.

“Look, Asahi! Is that the top?!” Nishinoya yelled excitedly, his orange and black striped scarf billowing in the wind.

“Noya, that’s just a boulder.”

“Aw, come on!”

Nishinoya had been asking if they were at the summit for a while now, but Asahi wasn’t growing tired of it. If anything, it gave him the drive to make it there so he could finally reply with a ‘Yes, Noya! We’re finally at the top!’

As he continued to hike, the wind teased his long hair, which fell out of its bun many meters earlier. Every now and then, Nishinoya would reach up to play with the locks, with Asahi weakly attempting to bat his hands away and failing.

Occasionally they’d pass by some natural wonders; an active fumarole spraying steam into the air, a hot spring that was heated by the volcano’s pyrophoric rocks. Nishinoya nearly dove into one of the springs; he was just barely stopped by Asahi, who desperately yanked the collar of his shirt before he could jump in.

It was by no means a normal night hike up Mt. Fuji. It was nowhere near the halcyon pilgrimage that many people experienced the climb as. But Asahi was alright with that. After all, he was completing the hike with Nishinoya.

“Hey, Asahi?”

“Yeah, Yuu?”

“Thanks for doing this with me.”

“Of course, Yuu,” Asahi responded automatically. And why shouldn’t he have? It was a sure thing in his mind. It was always a sure thing in his mind. That he would do anything for Nishinoya, and go anywhere with him, and he wouldn’t have to worry about anything, anymore.

Nishinoya reached up to lace his hand with Asahi’s as they neared the end of their upward climb. The sky was slowly lightening; they had timed their arrival perfectly. When a large torii suddenly came into view, Nishinoya’s eyes widened with unadulterated awe.

“Look, Asahi! Is that the top?”

“Yes, Yuu,” he replied with a wistful chuckle. “That’s the top.”

Nishinoya let out a squeal of delight and pulled Asahi along the path to get a better look. A small crowd of people was already assembled for the sunrise, their soft conversations lost in the gusts of the peak. Nishinoya weaved his way through them, trying to find a spot as close to the mountainside as possible.

Eventually they sat down under the torii, Asahi leaning against the wooden support and Nishinoya nuzzled up against Asahi. The smell of cherry blossoms wafted through the air, the aroma carried by gales from the base of the mountain. Asahi probably would’ve fallen asleep had it not been for Nishinoya poking his face every few minutes to check if he was awake.

He never was until he was poked, but he didn’t mind.

When the sun finally began to peek over the horizon, Asahi’s eyes stayed wide open. The celestial object overtook the clouds slowly, but magnificently, its rays shining over and through the layer of white. The clouds themselves became iridescent; a prismatic shower of colors amongst the cirrocumuluses and the lenticulars. 

Nishinoya soaked each one up with felicity, reaching out toward the sunrise, trying to grasp its greatness. 

Asahi looked over at his partner’s sun-dappled skin and absentmindedly traced a line of light on his arm. Nishinoya leaned into the contact, rubbing his cheek against Asahi’s hand.

“I love you, Asahi.”

“I love you too, Yuu.”

They both sighed simultaneously, staring off into the beginning of the day, eager to face the dawn.

\--

_Everything that can go right, will go right._

Things certainly weren’t looking up for Hinata not that long ago. Diagnosed with a disease he had no idea he was living with, shattering his tibia; no, they weren’t Hinata’s best months, medically speaking.

But he might’ve considered those months in the hospital to be some of the best months of his life. After all, he was living under the care of Kageyama Tobio, someone he grew quite fond of. And that someone was currently sitting in the bleachers watching Hinata’s Olympic volleyball practice.

Hinata told him it was ridiculous; it was just practice, after all. But Kageyama had insisted that he would come to watch and support him. It was a bit odd, seeing the man that was treating him for such a long time stare at him intently for what was just training.

Hinata didn’t mind though.

At the blow of a whistle, a ball was sent flying over the net, received skillfully by his team’s starter libero, who bumped the ball to their setter with self-proclaimed “perfect” looks. 

“Chibi-chan!” 

The setter launched the ball towards Hinata, who was already airborne by the time the ball was set. With a high-pitched grunt, Hinata slammed the ball to an empty space on the opposing team’s side of the court, the ball landing with a resounding smack.

“Nice quick!” a teammate of Hinata’s yelled, walking over to ruffle his hair. Kageyama wasn’t too fond of another person messing with his boyfriend’s hair, however. He stood up abruptly, his scowl set, and he glared at the wing spiker.

“Oi, Chibi-chan! Your date doesn’t seem to like Iwaizumi messing with your shrimpy hair!” Mr. “Perfect” commented while getting the ball to serve.

“Shut up, Shittykawa!” Hinata retorted.

The setter dubbed Shittykawa looked wounded as he turned to Iwaizumi and pouted. “Iwa-chan! Now Chibi-chan is calling me mean names!” he whined.

“Trust me, Oikawa, you deserve it.” Iwaizumi grumbled.

While Oikawa sulked back to the service line, Hinata turned to Kageyama and smiled. “Babe, Iwaizumi is totally into Oikawa, you don’t have to worry about him!”

At the sound of his name and Oikawa’s, Iwaizumi turned bright red, the tips of his ears looking as though they had been kissed by the sun.

Oikawa was taking the comment very differently, however. 

“Iwa-chan! You really mean it?!”

“O-Of course not!” Iwaizumi stammered, returning to his position on the court. “Just serve the damn ball, Trashykawa!”

Oikawa smiled widely and wrapped his arms around his body, shaking himself back and forth. “Iwa-chan, this next serve is for you!”

He took a few steps backwards before spinning the ball in his hands. The whistle blew once again, and with it, Oikawa started forward, tossing the ball high into the air. Oikawa swung his arm and slammed his hand into the ball, a strong impact which sent the ball soaring.

Right into the back of Iwaizumi’s head.

The ball rebounded back to their side of the court, its rolling creating the only sound in the gym as its occupants remained silent. Oikawa brought both of his hands to his mouth, his eyes widening.

“Iwa--”

Iwaizumi raised up a hand to stop him, before he simply walked off the court.

“Ice. I need ice.”

“I’ll get it for you Iwa--”

“Anyone but Assikawa, please get me some ice.” Iwaizumi interrupted.

With that, he walked off towards the locker room, Oikawa in tow behind him, constantly pestering him and making rude comments.

“Honestly Iwa-chan, I probably made you look prettier by hitting you in the head.”

A swift punch to the gut soon brought Oikawa to his knees. “Agh, Iwa-chan, you actually wound me.” he gasped, clutching at his chest.

Their coach, an old man with a short, gray hair looked on with eyes of concern before shaking his head. “They’ll be okay. They’re practically married anyway.” That earned him a few chuckles. “I guess we’ll break for a bit until they get back.”

The team members dispersed, and Hinata hopped his way to where Kageyama was sitting in the bleachers. “Tobio, don’t you think you should go help out?” He poked him in the chest. “You are a _doctor_ after all.”

“But I’m your doctor, Hinata.” Kageyama’s face showed no emotion, his expressions not betraying him. 

“Tobiooooo, you can be a doctor for more than one person,” Hinata drawled, dragging a finger along Kageyama’s neck.

Kageyama’s cheeks turned a coral shade before he spluttered, “I’m not at work right now!”

“Right! So you won’t get in trouble if I kiss you in front of everyone!”

Without warning, Hinata leaned over and collided his lips with Kageyama’s. It was hot, but short; a steamy shower after a long practice. Kageyama exited the kiss with a shaky exhale, before transitioning into a quick intake of breath and another deft kiss.

Hinata sighed into the kiss, running his fingers through Kageyama’s hair before being interrupted by a shrill tweet. He’d gotten in trouble with the coach for PDA before.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it!” Hinata yelled over his shoulder. He turned back to Kageyama and grinned. “Fine… I guess you can be just _my_ doctor, Tobio.”

“Shouyou… I l-luff, I l-l-lov--”

Hinata put a finger to Kageyama’s lips and smiled. “It’s alright. I love you too, Tobio!”

\---

_Everything that can go right, will go right._

Ennoshita was not typically one to subscribe to such notions as luck and fate. In his mind, it was all a result of probability. And it was, to some extent. At the moment, he was trying to weigh the outcomes of confessing to Tanaka.

They had remained great friends, even after Tanaka got out of the hospital. But that’s all they were: friends. Ennoshita hoped he could amend that in the evening, when he was going to be hanging out at Tanaka’s place.

He stared in the mirror, making sure he looked presentable for about the fifth time. 

_Maybe not today… I don’t want to ruin what we have._

While that thought predated all others in his head, his phone vibrated against the porcelain countertop of his bathroom sink. He looked at the notification: _New message from Ryuu._

**Ryuu: You headin’ over soon? Saeko probably won’t be back until later tonight ᕙ(`▿´)ᕗ**

Ennoshita smirked at the screen.

**Ennoshita: Is that you flexing your non-existent biceps?**

**Ryuu: My biceps totally exist!!! (ง︡'-'︠)ง**

Chuckling to himself, Ennoshita left the bathroom and put on his shoes.

**Ennoshita: Whatever you say, Ryuu. I’m heading out now.**

**Ryuu: Awesome!!! I’ll see you soon! (/^▽^)/**

Ennoshita closed his phone and the door at the same time, walking out towards Tanaka’s house. He inhaled deeply; the evening was rapidly approaching, and with it, the scent of falling leaves and the sound of stillness.

Tanaka’s house was a quaint one, and he still lived with sister since he couldn’t keep a job. But Ennoshita didn’t care. He was good friends with Saeko as well, ever since he helped save her brother’s life.

He knocked twice on the wooden frame of the door, a voice from inside answering with “Just come in!”

Tanaka was sitting on the couch, dressed in something oddly sophisticated for him, khaki pants, and a short-sleeve button-down. Ennoshita had to admit, it was… attractive. The man on the couch grinned at Ennoshita. “You know you can just walk in at this point, right? Not even Nee-san would mind.”

Ennoshita scoffed. “I’m not just gonna walk into your house without knocking. It’s _your_ house.”

“And Saeko’s!”

“And Saeko’s,” Ennoshita replied with a smile.

Ennoshita took a seat next to Tanaka on the sofa and let himself sink into it. “So what’s with the clothes?” he inquired. “You’re never this dressed up.”

Tanaka looked interrogated. “I can’t just look nice every now and then?”

Ennoshita let out a full-bodied laugh and let his eyes wander to Tanaka’s. “It’s just, it never happens, so I was surprised.” He lifted a hand to the back of his head and rubbed it sheepishly. “You look good.”

Tanaka found it hard to conceal his embarrassment as the entirety of his head was painted red as a rose. “C-Chika, seriously, stop teasing me, asshole!”

“I, uh, wasn’t trying to tease you…” Ennoshita muttered.

A stillness like the one outside quickly washed over the room, coating its inhabitants with realization. “You mean…?”

“Uh, I guess so, yeah…”

Suddenly, Tanaka stood up. “Wait! You can’t beat me to it!”

He ran off to the kitchen, leaving a horribly confused Ennoshita still sitting on the couch. _Beat him to it?_ Ennoshita thought. _Ryuu…_

When he returned, he was holding a bouquet of red camellias, and he stood in front of Ennoshita. Clearing his throat, he began to speak. “I was told that these flowers mean “you’re the flame in my heart,” or something like that deep longing sort of feel.” He looked down at his feet and continued.

“I’ve been in love with you ever since you winked at me and called me tough.” Ennoshita turned as red as the camellias at that comment. Finally, Tanaka looked back up at Ennoshita and forcefully held out the flowers. “Will you go out with me?!” he panicked, his face scrunching up in anticipation.

Ennoshita sighed, stood up, and took the flowers from him. “You know, I was planning on confessing tonight.”

Tanaka’s eyes widened. “Wait, is that a yes?!”

Ennoshita shut him up with a lean and a kiss. The warmth of the contact spread quickly from their lips to the rest of their bodies. The intoxicating feeling of Tanaka’s chapped lips against his own was something he longed for, for far too long a time. 

It was a camellia kind of kiss, he supposed.

After they parted, Tanaka smiling and Ennoshita smiling back, Tanaka asked him a question. “So what were you going to do to confess to me, eh?”

Ennoshita waved his hand. “Oh, it was nothing special. Your confession makes me looks like an asshole in comparison.”

“You are an asshole,” Tanaka replied, flashing a cheeky grin.

“Shut up,” Ennoshita muttered playfully, and he silenced Tanaka with another kiss.

\---

_Everything that can go right, will go right._

It had been a year since the power went out, and Suga was still in the hospital. But the year had not been an altogether unproductive one.

Daichi spent countless hours in the lab, working desperately to create a medication that could help Suga with his anorexia. After months of hard work, he finally succeeded, though it still had to go through rigorous medical testing before public use would be allowed. Luckily, Daichi was able to pull some strings, and got Suga into the trial.

Suga had stopped losing weight and was able to eat larger meals now. The pill Daichi worked on helped to decrease his sensitivity to leptin. He hadn’t gained any weight back either, but that would come with time.

Daichi was just happy that he didn’t have to coax Suga to eat at their food court dinner dates anymore.

Like the one he was at now.

“Dai, you said I could pick the meal tonight! What’s so bad about super spicy mapo tofu?!” Suga whined, pushing the bowl of food back towards Daichi. Daichi shook his head. “I never thought _I’d_ have to be the one to get _you_ to eat.”

Daichi groaned. “Fine, I’ll eat it.” Suga’s eyes brightened almost instantly. “But if I finish it, that means no spicy food for a week!”

Suga crossed his arms in front of his chest and humphed. “Fine. But only if we don’t eat ramen for a week either!”

“But Sug--”

“Pleeeeeease?”

Daichi sighed before giving the other man an exhausted smile. “Alright, alright. It’s a deal.”

When they finished their meal, they headed to the elevator, as they always did, and rode back up to the psych floor. The walk back to the room was quiet, but full. They walked side-by-side, their hands laced together. Just before entering Suga’s room, Daichi heard a voice.

“Good evening, Suga. Good evening, Daichi.” The soft voice belonged to Kiyoko, who smiled at them as they walked in. Just before he closed the door behind himself, Daichi caught sight of Yachi, who was beaming.

He saw her mouthing something, but wasn’t quite sure what it was. He imagined it was something along the lines of “Go get him!” Just the thought of that comment caused him to blush, which Suga was quick to call him out on.

“Why so flustered, Dai?”

“U-Uh, no reason in particular. Just some teasing from Yachi.”

Suga snickered and shook his head. “She’s always up to no good, I’m telling you. Kiyoko needs to realize who her partner really is.”

Daichi chuckled. “I feel the same way sometimes.” He eased himself towards Suga and wrapped an arm around his waist. “I hear he can be quite the troublemaker.”

“So mean, Dai,” Suga teased back. Daichi leaned over and planted a kiss on Suga’s forehead, who hummed in response.

“It’s nice that I can kiss you now without worrying about getting your forehead hairs in my mouth,” Daichi ribbed.

Suga pushed him away, albeit teasingly. “Asshole.”

“Alright, get on the scale. We’ve stalled it long enough,” Daichi said, finally taking charge.

Suga complied, making his way over to the electronic scale in the corner of the room. Slipping off his shoes, he stepped on and waited for the display to determine his weight. It was always quiet when they did this, the both of them breathlessly hoping for a larger number. 

With a beep, the scale showed a number. Suga stared at it for a moment before rubbing his eyes and staring at it again.

Daichi had been staring at the clipboard when the scale sounded, so he politely asked Suga, “Could you read off what it says for me?” He hadn’t yet looked up from his clipboard.

Meanwhile, Suga continued to stare at the display. “D-Dai! I gained a pound!”

Daichi looked up from his clipboard, his mouth starting to open. Suddenly, he was running over to the display and reading it many times over. He turned to Suga, a giant smile on his face. “Sug, you gained a pound!”

They immediately hugged each other, laughing into each other’s embrace. “I’m gonna gain more weight as fast as I can, Dai! Then we can go on a _real_ dinner date!”

Daichi smiled before giving Suga a short kiss on the lips.

“It’s a deal.”

\---

Yhprum’s law. A curious opposite to Murphy’s law, stating that _everything that can go right, will go right_. A simple reversed spelling of the name, Murphy.

It opposes the negativity of Murphy’s law with its own blinding positivity. Whether it’s taken as a rose-colored aphorism or as optimistic fate is irrelevant.

The law is a universal one, and as such, we are subject to its absolute governance.

But perhaps that’s not such a bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, we've done it!
> 
> Thank you all so much for sticking with me throughout this fic! I've thoroughly enjoyed writing it, as it was entirely self-indulgent. You know, I definitely intended for there to be more angst in this, but that didn't really end up happening.
> 
> *shrugs*
> 
> If I don't see you guys in the comment section of some other fic I write, I hope y'all have wonderful lives!!! But for now, I'll just settle for a hearty goodbye!
> 
> \- Cephas

**Author's Note:**

> Hoho, I should probably just stop now.
> 
> *sigh*
> 
> Hope you enjoyed? If you did, leave a kudos or a comment! On a side note, I'll be out of town for probably the next 10 days or so, and I won't be getting much done in terms of writing, so I'm really sorry :(
> 
> Thanks to akishime for beta'ing this!


End file.
